{"id":5689,"date":"2018-05-03T20:27:49","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T20:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pokerscout.com\/?p=5689"},"modified":"2018-05-06T21:08:56","modified_gmt":"2018-05-06T21:08:56","slug":"the-poker-tour-war-for-superiority-is-hurting-not-helping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pokerscout.com\/the-poker-tour-war-for-superiority-is-hurting-not-helping\/","title":{"rendered":"The Poker Tour War For Superiority Is Hurting, Not Helping"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For the first time in what seems like a long time, big-time poker players had a big-time choice<\/strong> when it came to where to play this week.<\/p>\n For the most part, major poker tours around the world have steered clear<\/strong> of one another in what has been a decade of unprecedented growth. Each clearly saw the benefits of scheduling events around, rather than against, each other. Each knew they were ultimately trying to attract the same group of players<\/strong>.<\/p>\n They knew forcing those players to choose between them would only hurt them all. They knew competing for space on the calendar would only result in smaller fields and smaller prize pools. The kind of things that can have a major effect on an event and tour\u2019s overall marketability.<\/p>\n The smaller, more intimate poker tournament is a tough sell in a community where everyone is trying to maximize personal earning potential.<\/p>\n As they grew into the powerful entities they are today, the World Poker Tour<\/strong> and PokerStars\u2019<\/a> European Poker Tour<\/strong> always left the end of May to the middle of July to the World Series of Poker<\/strong>. With much of the poker world descending upon Las Vegas, Nevada<\/a> <\/strong>for the six-week duration of the series, it\u2019s a move that made sense for all sorts of reasons. Not the least of which was the fact any event running at the same time as the WSOP<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>outside of Vegas\u00a0is bound to be an epic failure<\/strong>.<\/p>\n However, the cease-fire in the war for poker tour supremacy<\/strong> extended to the rest of the year as well. The WPT, EPT, and smaller upstart tours looking to compete with them often visit the same locations around the world. Obviously, they do so on different dates. Most also make stops in places that appear to be their exclusive domain<\/strong>. However, they always seemed to make sure to schedule these events in weeks where the other tours were dark. It was an effort to maximize potential attendance<\/strong> at each and it worked.<\/p>\n Tour and event organizers may not have sat down and figured it all out on the calendar together. It was always more of an informal thing. However, they always seemed to respect one another enough to play nice and figure out a way to split up the poker pie in a fair an equitable manner for all involved.<\/p>\nGiving the WSOP its due<\/span><\/h2>\n