Nick Vertucci says Live at the Bike has been non-renewed, moving to Commerce

[Dan Druff]

Obviously Vertucci is not a neutral observer. He co-owns Hustler Casino Live, which is the main competition for Live at the Bike, so I'm sure he's reacting with joy regarding the news.

Nick was incorrect when he said that Bally Sports sponsored them. It's actually Bally's, which is a different company. Bally Sports just leased the name. This is significant, because Bally Sports is declaring bankruptcy, whereas Bally's itself is okay. (This is also NOT the same Bally's as the Caesars property in Vegas, which is now called Horseshoe.)

Anyway, Nick is theorizing that the Bike did not renew the contract with Live at the Bike, which is an independently owned company contracting with them. Hustler Casino Live, owned by Nick Vertucci and Ryan Feldman, is also a separate company from Hustler Casino. However, it appears HCL has a closer relationship with Hustler Casino than Live at the Bike has with the Bike.

I will say that Live at the Bike, who hired former poker cheater Houston Curtis to executive produce last year, never was able to catch up with Hustler Casino Live. I assume the Bike realized this and didn't renew, feeling it wasn't bringing them value. (Curtis was on a PFA Radio episode at the time he released his book, by the way, and it was an interesting interview.)

Can Live at the Bike succeed at Commerce? I don't see things being much different. The Bike as a venue wasn't what was keeping it from catching Hustler Casino Live. HCL was simply better at recruiting interesting poker personalities to play, and the stream was popular enough to where the Robbi Jade Lew J4 scandal did not make a significant dent into their popularity. It helped that cheating was never proven, and the only proven malfeasance was one of their employees stealing $15k off Robbi's stack.

Geographically, it will make little difference, as Commerce and Bike are only about 5 miles apart.

[sonatine]

the commerce doesnt have those clutch peppermint $100 chips tho so

[JoeD]

Sad to see one of the OG streams go, but LATB just couldn't compete with HCL on a nightly basis.

I don't see LATB surviving at the Commerce unless Commerce is going to spend some money for a nice set up like Larry Flynt was willing to do for HCL, and I've yet to see Commerce be willing to do so re poker unless the WPT was involved.

Also, my opinion remains that Vertucci is shady af

RIP LATB

[Dan Druff]

Sad to see one of the OG streams go, but LATB just couldn't compete with HCL on a nightly basis.

I don't see LATB surviving at the Commerce unless Commerce is going to spend some money for a nice set up like Larry Flynt was willing to do for HCL, and I've yet to see Commerce be willing to do so re poker unless the WPT was involved.

Also, my opinion remains that Vertucci is shady af

RIP LATB

Ryan Feldman is a big factor.

Nobody else can match his skill in putting together interesting lineups.

Feldman plus high production quality plus good marketing = success.

[turdzilla]

Is the same production team at the new venue?