Mike-
Thanks for thinking of us and know we are always listening. Despite this forum being a partypoker blog, we would never question your motivations to want what is best for the industry and the WSOP, as the showcase festival of a game you love.
So it is out of respect, that I have my own "Jerry Maguire" moment in playing devil's advocate and providing some color on our motivations.
November Nine - I take for granted no one understands the TV business as well as you, and its role in continuing to grow the game and keep prize pools high. In this era of social media and live reporting it was not optimal strategy to put out a documentary of action that happened months earlier. I hope the industry feels proud of a platform which sees every hand of a poker tournament covered on the #1 sports network in the world via a multi-day prime time finale. Extended coverage, cross-promotion on ESPN programming, even the big lead on SportsCenter. From metrics like trends on twitter, measured media, etc. the WSOP Final Table is the biggest window we have to celebrate the game. By the same token, I don't think anyone (with exception perhaps of another tour) would want to see those weekly prime-time slots on ESPN go away that reach the masses. Definitely not best appropach to market game to put WSOP in a one-week box and complete serialized programming in July. At the same time, we don't want to mistreat players who have gone on this "good for poker" journey known as the November Nine. I want to point out that 1)we do in fact pay out 9th place money in July - 2)we put the remaning prize pool in an interest baring account and distribute to the players 3)furnish business cass travel and expenses for return trip, etc. While it is not easy on all players, many have spoken of the great opportunity to gain a sponsorship deal in this tough climate, use a heightened profile to their advantage in subsequent tournaments, and experience things through their profession they never thought possible. For instance, I believe it was very exciting for Bruno Politano to receive a good luck message from country icon Neymar last year...something that simply didn't happen without this format. Having been there in 2006/7 myself when a sparse crowd of mostly sleeping, univested persons witnessed the final table, I am continually floored by the atmosphere of the modern final table, which replete with body painters, country flags and chanting fans, makes poker feel very close to sport. The November Nine has always been about putting players first, albeit more focused on the future players we all so desperately need. We don't make more money or share in ad revenue from ESPN. We in fact go dark on penn and teller and Caesars/ESPN shell out more money to re-build the TV set and infrastructure a second time. It is absolutely fair to criticize, but this is a noble endeavour to give poker as an industry its due.
On the Total Bracelet Tally-There is no doubt the modern WSOP "PokerPalooza" is a different vision than it was pre "boom" but we are guided by the principles of having choices/opportunities for all segments of players and giving them the best experience/prize pool/value possible. I think we can all agree the WSOP was once primarily the stomping grounds of professionals/serious poker players. For this highly coveted original group, we try to service your needs with the higher buy-in options and mixed games (a real source of pride given the scarcity of those events in the market) Yet we also want options for the recreational player who desires to experience the game and "the show" without having to break the bank. Given the WPT's own actions, I think you are familar with the size of this market, particularly given the limited scale of online poker today, inhibiting chance to qualify on the cheap like the good old days. And, then of course, we want mid-stakes tournaments that are consistent with the bank-rolls for the majority of players today. We're simply not going to let any one special interest group rule the roost. Ultimately, we want to bring together $227 million of prize money under one great circus and let the players decide which track(s) they want to follow on any given day. We are proud to have $1 million events and $1,000 events. This is poker today. I'll agree to disagree with you that we're only worried about bottom line. We re-committed to a two-track system for all core disciplines of game, our growth has been quite calculated over the past several years and based upon response leading to all-time records in entrants and prize pool, it seems to be good for players. An outfit only focused on bottom line wouldn't put on a mixed game bracelet in Australia (much less two) And yet it is still statistically harder to win a bracelet than at any time in the past. Last year, you bested 7600 players to run deep in the Millionaire Maker. Whether your next bracelet is against a huge field like that or the tough but smaller $10k Championship fields, I believe everyone will celebrate it as a worthy accomplishment.
POY-I am glad you are interested in the race! I hope you put it in your sights for 2015. Stay tuned for more news here. But generally I want to say that it is not simply business interests that guide the POY or the one international festival overall. I have actually been very clear that we don't make money on those events at all. The international events are not housed in our casinos, and we do not collect the rake. We do not use them as an infomercial for online gaming (as we do not even operate in European markets outside UK) - and with a blend of righteousness and embarassment I can admit the majority of the international events have operated at a loss. You yourself can testify to the very high costs of first-rate TV production, which is not offset by rake of a modest 10 event slate. The international events were another of our convinctions to do what we can to grow the game through power of our platform - with a long term view of the world. We have always believed in the "World" in WSOP and that with a fast growing global game not all events should be on home soil where Americans can save the travel expenses. There have been great moments with players not even eligible for the WSOP Vegas - Like Annette Obrestad and Adrian Mateos jump-starting their careers. We have broken barriers like getting poker on the Olympic TV Channel Eurosport, or the first live poker in Australia. I am quite proud of this and believe it is worth the tradeoff of having 10 events annually outside the Rio. However we take very seriously that the WSOP intl events are not yet fully realized, took the appropriate step in retracting to one event, and are very inspired by what will take place in Germany this October. Why let the WPT have all the fun
In closing, I'd just like to say that we believe we have right to operate a fair business with the WSOP event and brand, we are almost always guided by simple endeavour to do the right things for the right reasons. We want to be a source of pride and unifying platform for you and everyone who loves poker. we want it bigger and better yes. But we are not Dr. Evil plotting to exploit a community (which is too smart for that anyway) on an annual basis. Yes, with miles of truss & lighting/mountains of chips/thousands of staff/hundreds of security cameras we have the highest costs in the industry. But we also don't have a myopic view of the world. And I can assure you any variance in fees collected from 65 or 68 bracelet events is not going to be highlighted topic in the Caesars Interactive balance sheets. Apologize for the long-winded reply, but your post really struck an emotional chord. We truly are trying to follow an example of ambassadors such as yourself, harness the potential of a great game with great history and propel it to something more. We want to bring together the Poker World..and we want to encourage the World to discover Poker. We believe we can put out a great offering for all the different types of players we observe in this modern era. We believe we have a responsibility to do more than less. Try things vs. standing pat. And we plan to be a stakeholder deeply invested in the success of the game for decades to come. So, please know we're both listening and taking seriously every action with the sacred WSOP. I hope over time you will observe this and feel very proud the next time you hoist a gold bracelet.