Jun 22, 2011
World Series of Poker takes a big hit after the U.S. Department of Justice closed operators of online poker in April. The closure resulted in fewer players in the World Series of Poker now there is no longer able to participate in online satellite tournaments. Oskar Garcia, Associated Press Las Vegas reporter, talks with Renee Montagne about the tournament this year.
World Series of Poker is underway in Las Vegas, even if it could be quite the event has been in previous years. This is because the FBI crackdown on online poker company in April, closing the three largest. The Ministry of Justice accused the owners of those Web sites cases of money laundering of billions of dollars in illegal gambling proceeds.
That shutdown has meant fewer players in The World Series of Poker now that there is no longer the option of joining online satellite tournaments.
Oskar Garcia is the Las Vegas reporter for the Associated Press, and we reached him on his cell phone there and Las Vegas. Good morning.
Mr. OSKAR GARCIA (Reporter, Associated Press): Good morning. Thanks for having me on the program.
MONTAGNE: Now, there is one absence in particular that’s really shaken the poker world. Who didn’t show up this year and why?
Mr. GARCIA: Well, one of the biggest names in poker, Phil Ivey, considered perhaps the biggest player in the sport, said as the series was starting that he was not going to show up because he was upset that his sponsor, Full Tilt Poker, hasn’t paid players money that they deposited in online accounts. And he’s something of a legend in poker circles because he’s a little bit of a private person, and he has got his icy stare that when you’re playing against him, you don’t quite know what he has or how he’s reading into you.
But his absence at The World Series of poker is a huge deal because he’s one of the people that fans come out to see. It’s sort of like, as one lawyer put it to me, Michael Jordan not showing up to the NBA Finals.
MONTAGNE: Given what you’ve just described, what is the feel this year to The World Series of Poker?
Mr. GARCIA: It remains to be seen what’s going to happen at the Main Event. The Main Event is the most popular poker tournament at the series. It’s the one that everybody follows on TV, where you see the most celebrities, but they don’t always put up the $10,000 to buy in by themselves. Without the sites paying for these players to play, it’s not quite clear whether celebrities will buy themselves into the tournament.
MONTAGNE: Well, one thing as this tournament goes on, so are lobbying efforts for the industry, trying to get online poker legalized in some way. What kind of impact might that have on places other than Las Vegas?
Mr. GARCIA: Well, the commercial casino industry is pushing hard at the moment to try to get online poker explicitly legalized, because they say it’ll bring states and the federal government badly needed revenue. Some estimates put it just America alone, online poker industry, at $6 billion in revenue a year. So if that’s taxed commercial casinos say that could bring in a lot of money for states and the federal government.
MONTAGNE: But obviously their opponents. What do they say to the idea of making online poker legal?
Mr. GARCIA: Well, some opponents of it are just opposed to any sort of gambling whatsoever, and so any attempt to allow for more gambling, they’re going to be against. Other people, even some in the commercial casino industry are worried that online poker would cannibalize their revenues. In other words, if people play online poker they’re less likely to visit a casino to play blackjack or slot machines.
But most of the commercial casino industry, including leading companies, has really changed their tune in recent years and make a strong push at the moment for the top three organizations face serious legal problems.