To be brutally honest, the 2024 World Series of Poker, and the $10,000 Championship Event (the “Main Event”) did not end well. The fiasco regarding Jonathan Tamayo’s win in the event – with a rail full of computers and professional players advising him – was a black eye to the sport, one that still hasn’t been adequately addressed. But those who expected something to be done were instead met with silence, first from Caesars Entertainment (then the owners of the WSOP) and now its new owners.
NSUS Group, which bought the entirety of the WSOP for a $500 million expenditure, is now in charge of poker’s greatest tournament through their online poker offering, GGPoker. But they have shown that they might not be up to snuff in taking over an institution that has been a part of the fabric of poker for over fifty years. GGPoker, through a few unforced errors, is demonstrating so far that they might not be ready for prime time with poker’s crown jewel.
Inadequate Response to Tamayo Scandal
First, the Tamayo Scandal was admittedly dropped in their lap, but neither NSUS nor GGPoker made anyone feel comfortable regarding their response to the issue. Several months would go by with radio silence from the organization until the WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas in December. At that point, GGPoker and NSUS finally issued an edict that said such actions as what Tamayo did in the 2024 WSOP Main Event were against the rules and would result in repercussions in the future (never mind that there were already rules on the books for the 2024 WSOP, but we’ll go on by that).
NOBODY has stepped forth as the responsible party for either sector of the company. NSUS is putting the operation of the 2025 WSOP squarely in the hands of GGPoker, and GGPoker has NOT given any indication as to who is in charge from their side of the table. This would have been the prime moment to introduce someone who is the “Commissioner” of the WSOP (something that has not existed since Jeffrey Pollack left the WSOP in 2009), a power who would oversee being the arbiter of poker’s biggest event.
Instead, NSUS and GGPoker hide behind Caesars Entertainment, who still have a hand in things as the physical entity that will host this year’s tournament (and be in charge of immediate actions). That same management that botched what went on after the Tamayo Scandal is still there, and they have not said one word regarding their malfeasance from 2024. This is something that NSUS and GGPoker should have taken care of after they acquired the WSOP last fall, but they have chosen not to.
The Casino Employees Event Brouhaha
When NSUS and GGPoker make a decision, it is one to shoot themselves in the other foot. With the start of the 2025 WSOP only weeks away, they issued a declaration that the Casino Employees Event, which will be renamed as the “Industry Employees” Event and starts on May 27, will allow “poker bloggers, vloggers, streamers, etc.” Apparently, it wasn’t enough to only have casino people playing in the tournament, now NSUS and GGPoker flung the door open to nearly anyone.
It is natural to try to recognize the way that the media has expanded since the days when we had ink and quill and penned our pieces. This, however, was a tremendously bad move by NSUS and GGPoker in that it basically allows ANYONE to enter the event, not what was intended with the original concept. In theory, if Phil Hellmuth pens an op-ed on a poker news page, HE would be eligible to take part in the “Industry Employees Event.”
Technically, The Lodge owner Doug Polk, who has made over $10 million in poker and earned three WSOP bracelets, would be eligible to participate in the “Industry Employees Event.” He’s fortunately seen the idiocy in this move by NSUS and GGPoker and probably won’t be stepping to the felt:
There is still time for NSUS and GGPoker to correct this humongous error. They could simply (and if there were a Commissioner, it would be easy) state that entrants from the event have to show SOMETHING of substance to show they work in the industry, not as a professional poker player (place a limit on lifetime winnings is a good rule). But this would actually require NSUS and GGPoker to show they give a damn about the situation and the 2025 WSOP – and their continued silence doesn’t show that they do.
We are still about six weeks from the 2025 WSOP. There are plenty of chances for NSUS and GGPoker to prove that they are respecting the legacy and the history of the event. But if track record is any evidence, it is sad to see that all NSUS and GGPoker have an interest in is stripping whatever money they can take from the franchise and crapping on the players in the process.
The post Unforced Errors: Is GGPoker Ready to Take Over the WSOP? appeared first on Poker News Daily.
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