Black Friday impact felt by live players
Sam Trickett, one of the first poker players to be sponsored post Black Friday, talks to eGaming Review about the changing face of the game following the indictment of several of the major sites' founders.
This year marked the fourth time that English poker pro Sam Trickett (pictured) played at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), but the first at which he was willing to try his hand at some of the tougher non-hold’em tournaments.
The Nottingham-based 25-year-old specialises in live no limit hold’em tournaments, and back-to-back top two finishes in high-roller tournaments in January put his earnings this year at close to $3m (£1.84m), even before he made the trip to Las Vegas for the WSOP.
But this year Black Friday has changed the vibe around the Rio hotel and casino, and Trickett got the sense that more American players headed to the series with the intention of ‘taking a shot’ “ making a life-changing score or taking a break from poker altogether, with a change of residency not an option for those with college degrees to finish or families to take care of.
“A lot of people did choose to take a shot and play off their own bankroll and only get staked if it didn’t go well,” explains Trickett, who mentions an acquaintance of his who has $4.5m ‘in limbo’ on Full Tilt. “It was good to see all these online players turning up who maybe aren’t as strong at certain elements of the game, and the fields were still big weren’t they?
“On a personal level I entered a few tournaments where I knew I wasn’t a favourite over the field, just to get experience and try to win a bracelet.”
One other notable element at this year’s World Series was the lack of sponsorship from egaming sites. Without an American audience to target, Pokerstars patches were fewer and further between than in previous years, while Full Tilt logos were absent towards the end of the series for obvious reasons. Indeed, many of the latter’s sponsored pros opted not to promote the company even before its licences were suspended by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission on 29 June.
However, Trickett was one of few players to secure a sponsorship deal post-Black Friday, renewing his contract with iPoker skin Titan Poker, and he believes such deals offer plenty of hope for the industry.
“It’s obviously a sign that the whole online poker market isn’t just Full Tilt and Pokerstars, even though that was the majority,” he says.
“Full Tilt flooded their pro market in the past and I can’t see how what they did is profitable, whereas the likes of Titan having smaller teams with well-respected players works well. Hopefully the Italian market opening up for cash games will help with sponsorship by improving liquidity for sites.”
Trickett is also represented by (and owns a small percentage of) poker agency CheckRaise Management, which sought to sign up those European-based players looking for sponsorship in FTP’s absence, although he suggests a more widespread trend towards image-based sponsorship deals is not a guarantee.
“I’m not sure how much that can offer you in the long-term,” he says, “[but] It’s probably a good idea to get on TV as much as possible at the moment.
“Still, we relied a lot on the patch deals before, so I’m not sure what direction we’re going to go with that now. Even though the industry isn’t dependent on Full Tilt [which sponsors or sponsored several CheckRaise clients] to stay alive it is quite a big thing if they end up folding.”
He is set to play in next week’s first Epic Poker League main event in Las Vegas, a tournament likely to welcome sponsorship tie-ups from non-poker companies, and Trickett thinks now is the time for certain types of company to increase their involvement and capitalise on the opportunities offered.
“I think it’s only a matter of time before non poker-related businesses get involved in poker, whether its energy drinks or sunglasses who start investing in sponsorships. Considering how big poker’s got, with thousands of people still playing online, it’s beginning to look like a good way for people to advertise.”
Such a move is seen by pros like Trickett as a way to get poker into the mainstream in a more positive light, but there remains a concern that any pluses could ultimately serve merely to offset the damage caused if Full Tilt’s problems continue.
“The last thing you want to see is companies folding and not paying out players, as that will lead to players becoming paranoid and concerned that other companies might start folding as well,” he admits. “It doesn’t look good, in general, if Full Tilt ends up not paying its players does it?”