If you have been keeping up with the action on our front page, you might have noticed something a little different last week. Within hours of finishing our coverage of the record-breaking World Series of Poker on this page and our Instant feed, we turned our attention to the WSOP Circuit in Oklahoma. Today, we and the Circuit made it official: we're going to do this all year long, because PokerOrg is now the official media partner on the Circuit.
Now, when you go to a Circuit stop, you'll begin to see our people and our Instant coverage style--the biggest moments, the most interesting stories, the accurate First-Hand Hands, and the interviews that interest you the most. No boring coinflips, no five-hour-old chip counts, no mindless filler.
Poker is everybody's game
When I started working on the journalism side of poker back in 2005, I was, of course, fascinated when I got the chance to peek over Doyle Brunson's shoulder or position myself in the path of Phil Ivey's death ray stare.
My biggest interests, however, weren't the big stars of the felt. Instead, I was fascinated by the regular folks like me who loved the game--people who might have aspired to be sitting with Doyle but were just as happy having the chance to play at all. A lot of those--as I have always thought of them--Real People are now big-name stars, and many of them remain like me: just happy to be playing.
The old adage says, "Write what you know." So, that's what I did for a long time. I looked for people who were interesting and talented even if they weren't already famous. Now, PokerOrg is doing the same thing, and because we have people working with us who have done everything from play the $150 daily at Caesars to final table the Main Event of the World Series of Poker, we can cover all levels of the game with the kind of experience it takes to tell the stories that deserve to be told. And we'll also have a few laughs along the way--as you should at the poker table.
Many years ago, the Circuit started showing up at the closest thing I have to a "home" casino: Harrah's Cherokee in North Carolina. I walked into the giant ballroom and saw tables from wall-to-wall for an event I could afford to play. I recognized friends and people I'd been playing with for years. Then I saw hundreds of people I'd never seen before who had all showed up in a little North Carolina town. And that's when I knew poker was going to be just fine for a long time.
Why? Look at all the people who show up. Some of these events can be massive, as the WSOP pointed out in the partnership announcement this morning.
“Poker boom 2.0 is in full swing and we’re proud the WSOP Circuit has evolved into the most played tournament series in the world”, said Ty Stewart, Executive Director of the World Series of Poker. “We’ve heard our players loud and clear and they want more coverage and better coverage for WSOP Circuit events. PokerOrg has put together an all-star team and impressed us with their innovative plans to cover live events. We’re thrilled PokerOrg has made the commitment to become the primary media partner of the WSOP Circuit.”
What PokerOrg has planned for the WSOP Circuit
Did you see our coverage from the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas?
That's the kind of thing you will be seeing from the WSOP Circuit. Actually, that's the kind of thing you can already see from the Circuit.
“WSOP Circuit players have been underserved in media coverage for too long and PokerOrg is eager to bring a fresh new approach to live poker coverage,” said Eric Hollreiser, CEO of PokerOrg--aka my boss. “The WSOP Circuit Tour represents the largest community of poker players on the planet and they deserve dedicated independent media coverage that celebrates the dramatic hero calls, empathizes with the bad beats and raises the profiles of the many characters that represent the diversity of poker players at these events. Our player-focused, social-media style of reporting will give the players, the venues and the WSOP tons of opportunities to feature the skills, talents and personalities that make poker the most popular mind sport in the world.”
So, with the WSOP as our newest partners, we scrambled our people from the end of the World Series in Vegas to the Circuit in Oklahoma. From there, they'll go directly to Cherokee, NC and then onward for the rest of the Circuit between now and the WSOP in Las Vegas next summer.
We have lots of plans we have not yet revealed, and we're excited to share those with everyone in the coming months.
In the meantime, if you're looking for Circuit coverage, keep your eye on the front page of PokerOrg, and check us out wherever you like to hang out on social media.
