Poker Endorsements: Big Names - Big Money
Published: Friday, April 22, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
PRO POKER ENDORSEMENTS
Big names can make big money
The Las Vegas Sun carried an excellent article this week on the big name poker players and their endorsement deals in respect of online poker companies.
The story points out that many highly successful professional poker players have struck lucrative endorsement deals with Internet poker sites and regularly tout them during their celebrity appearances.
Poker legend Doyle Brunson, the so-called "Babe Ruth of poker" wears corporate clothing and laces his personable exchanges with the public with mentions of Doyle's Room. He plays online poker himself and plans to write a book on Internet poker strategy soon.
Most poker pros now gamble online, lured by multi-million-dollar jackpots that rival those of the biggest land-based casinos as well as nonstop games and rapid play, poker experts say. There's also the lure of millions of players, some not as competent as others, to play against.
The Sun article quotes 1995 WSOP champ Russ Hamilton, who says that online poker helps supplement income for poker pros who don't have to travel around as much to play in big money games. Hamilton is a spokesman for UltimateBet, a site based in the Caribbean island of Aruba.
Poker pros say the law surrounding online poker is unclear but are careful not to go too far in their relationships with Internet poker sites.
Brunson said he is a consultant for DoylesRoom.com and does not have an ownership stake in the site. "It's a gray area," Brunson said of Internet gambling. "That's why we can only be consultants, not owners. It's a touchy situation."
Howard Lederer is paid to promote Full Tilt Poker. Lederer is part owner of the company that developed the gambling software for the site but said he doesn't have a stake in the gambling operation. "The software is a constant project," said Lederer, a two-time World Series of Poker champion.
About two years ago, Lederer and other top players were approached by a group of players with the idea of creating a poker site with star power and input from professional players.
"The site was designed with well over 100 years of poker experience behind it," he said. "These are poker people, people who understand online poker. We play in small stakes games (with customers) and answer questions. It's a true endorsement of the site."
Mike Sexton, who also lives in Las Vegas, is a longtime pro who has nearly given up regular poker games for endorsements, book deals and other promotions.
Sexton is a commentator for the World Poker Tour, a traveling poker tournament with 16 events worldwide that is broadcast on the Travel Channel and across 56 countries. Tournament hosts range from Internet poker sites to the Bellagio and Mirage. Besides receiving a salary from the World Poker Tour, Sexton also is a part owner of Party Poker -- the largest online poker room with an estimated 50 percent of the worldwide market.
"They were looking for someone who knew about poker," Sexton said.
Sexton helped develop the poker software, trained the site's customer service staff and created the PartyPoker Million, an annual tournament held on a cruise ship that has become the largest event in the World Poker Tour.
"Television is the No. 1 reason poker is so popular and none of these other shows would be around if not for the World Poker Tour," Sexton said. "We're the PGA Tour of poker and the money is bigger."
The tour is creating a "millionaire a week" and last week crossed the threshhold of $100 million in total prize money, he said.
Internet poker is the "No. 2 reason" for poker's rising popularity, he said.
Another local pro paid to promote PartyPoker.com is Kathy Liebert, a former Wall Street analyst who is known as one of the best female tournament players in the world. In 2002, Liebert made history as the first woman to win a poker tournament offering a million-dollar top prize at the first PartyPoker Million, a tournament held on a ship that cruised the Mexican Riviera.
Online means more competition at casino tournaments but also means bigger prize pools, Liebert said. "You still have to beat the people at your table but it's better because there's more money in the pot," she said. "It means you don't have to play tournaments as often to make money."
Another local who has capitalised on the poker craze is Brad Daugherty, a host for EmpirePoker. Daugherty, the 1991 World Series of Poker champ, was that tournament's first million-dollar winner. He now travels the country playing major tournaments. As part of his duties for the site, Daugherty coaches players during online sessions and answers questions.
"People learn to play so well and so quickly online. In one year you can learn what it took me 10 years to learn. You can play three games at the same time and play a lot more hands per hour. The learning curve has been cut way down. Every player that I know loves to play on the Internet," he said.
Canadian poker pro Daniel Negreanu will be bridging the gap between online and land-based casinos when he assumes a position as "ambassador" of the poker room at the soon-to-open Wynn Las Vegas megaresort. Negreanu, a tournament regular and Las Vegas resident, also promotes a new Internet poker room called Poker Mountain.
The article does not mention a sponsorship well known on the Internet - that of the Prima Poker network relationship with the famous UK poker professionals The Hendon Mob.
