{"id":7207,"date":"2018-05-29T15:01:12","date_gmt":"2018-05-29T15:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pokerscout.com\/?p=7207"},"modified":"2018-05-29T18:29:44","modified_gmt":"2018-05-29T18:29:44","slug":"world-poker-tour-move-to-las-vegas-esports-arena-could-spark-player-revolt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pokerscout.com\/world-poker-tour-move-to-las-vegas-esports-arena-could-spark-player-revolt\/","title":{"rendered":"World Poker Tour Move To Las Vegas Esports Arena Could Spark Player Revolt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perhaps the World Poker Tour<\/strong>\u00a0was just putting the idea out there. Maybe they just wanted to see\u00a0how players would react to the idea of delaying all its televised final tables next season before moving them to Esports Arena Las Vegas<\/strong>. If so, there\u2019s still time to nix the plan.<\/p>\n

However, if it\u2019s a plan the WPT is married to, they\u2019ve a got a public relations nightmare on their hands. One that may soon turn into a full-fledged revolt.<\/p>\n

Reaction from tour regulars has been decidedly negative. The overwhelming sentiment appears to be asking players who make a final table to make a trip out to Las Vegas several weeks later to finish it up will deter recreational players, foreigners and pros with lives outside of poker from playing WPT events altogether.<\/p>\n

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How are we recreational players ever going to be able to carve out the time for an extra trip in case we make a final table? How can you not think this drastically reduce the # of businessmen playing WPTs? https:\/\/t.co\/7EapGqD7dq<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Cliff Josephy (@JohnnyBaxPoker) May 27, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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So many of us pros with families are not going to make two trips and just decide to skip venue I expect turn outs to be 20-25% early season and closer to 50 by end of season the time everyone knows turnouts are falling https:\/\/t.co\/VmekLPEXrF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NiceShaunDeeb (@shaundeeb) May 27, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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I have two young kids at home. It\u2019s already tough to leave for 7-10 days straight to play in a tournament series. This pretty much makes it impossible\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jonathan Duhamel (@JonathanDuhamel) May 27, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Yeah this is really bad<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ryan Riess (@RyanRiess1) May 27, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The WPT has spent the past 16 seasons promoting the game and the people who play it like no one else. The tour has always been player-friendly. But for some taking a rather extremist view, this move undoes all that:<\/p>\n

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The poker industry is weird part 73294 pic.twitter.com\/U2fgVzUiml<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 DJ MacKinnon (@djmacjr) May 28, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The WPT plan<\/span><\/h2>\n

Overly critical overreactions from those with a tendency to do that aside, the WPT is likely making several mistakes here. Not the least of which is basing their decision to do this on some rather flawed logic.<\/p>\n

The plan for the WPT\u2019s 17th season is to move all nine televised WPT final tables to the $25 million Esports Arena Las Vegas<\/a> at the Luxor Hotel & Casino<\/strong>\u00a0in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 30,000-square-foot, multilevel arena is actually owned by WPT parent company Ourgame<\/strong>. It is designed to host competitive gaming events like high-stakes esports tournaments. It features a competition stage, 50-foot LED video wall, and telescopic seating. There are also PC and console gaming stations and a network TV-quality production studio.<\/p>\n

For the WPT, that last feature might really be the key.<\/p>\n

Moving all nine of its televised final tables to Esports Arena Las Vegas will allow the tour to save the cost of trucking its TV crew and all its staging, gear and equipment back and forth across the country. The only problem with that being the WPT is asking players to shoulder the additional burden of a trip to Las Vegas to help them find those savings.<\/p>\n

WPT CEO Adam Pliska<\/strong> said as soon as WPT brass saw the space, they knew they wanted to use it in some way. Perhaps they should have gone to the players to ask them how first.<\/p>\n

Of course, nothing is set in stone just yet. The WPT\u2019s Vice President of Global Tour Management Angelica Hael<\/strong> said moving final tables from one venue to another, particularly one that\u2019s out of state, will require various regulatory body and gaming commission approvals.<\/p>\n

Assuming they get that for all nine stops, when those events reach the traditional WPT final table of six, they\u2019ll stop. The final tables will be played out in groups, happening anywhere from an estimated three to six weeks after each event.<\/p>\n

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