Most Important Person In Poker?
What person do you think has had the greatest impact on Poker? You can choose whoever you want. Here are a few suggestions:
- Chris Moneymaker- who beat Sam Farha at the 2003 WSOP Main Event showing everyone that an average man could become the World Champion and win millions.
- Henry Orenstein- developer of the hole card cam which made televised poker very interesting to watch.
- Jack Binion- creator of the WSOP
- Randy Blumer- started the multibillion-dollar online poker industry with the launch of Planet Poker, the world's first real money online poker room on January 1, 1998.
- Steve Lipscomb- Creator of the World Poker Tour which brought big money poker tournaments into the homes of millions of people.
++My choice is Chris Moneymaker. I think his win at the 2003 Main Event, broadcast all over the world on ESPN, brought millions and millions of people into poker when they saw anyone could defeat the pros, become world champion and win millions of dollars.
The bloke who came up with it for Late Night Poker in the UK in 1999
It's obviously Henry Orenstein. The huge productions of the WPT and ESPN WSOP don't happen without the hole card camera. And Chris Moneymaker could have finished 2nd or 839th and it doesn't change the boom.
WSOP Main Event:
1995: 273
1996: 295
1997: 312
1998: 350
Rounders
1999: 393
2000: 512
2001: 613
2002: 631
Hole Card Cam
2003: 839
2004: 2.576
2005: 5,619
2006: 8,773
You've also got to compare online poker, with its amusing ads on TV by Party Poker and Full Tilt, and the number of entrants who won their seats on these and other sites.
I doubt it's Moneymaker. We had already seen a giant increase in our book sales before he won the 2003 Mian Event at the WSOP. However, the WPT TV shows started at the end of April that same year so this implies that eithe Steve Lipscomb or Henry Orenstein were more important.
Jack Binion also needs major consideration. He's the one who was pushing poker, this goes back to the early 1970s, and the WSOP was growing every year way before the 2003 breakthrough.
I doubt that Randy Blumer should be con
I agree with a lot of this. Its popular to say Chris Moneymaker, but the 2004 WSOP was the most watched poker event of all time. I believe even the worst episodes were averaging only million people, while most of the time it was averaging 2 million and almost 3 during the final table. Not to mention the constant viewings on reruns. ESPN ran the 04 and 05 WSOP into the ground and then pawned it off onto the ESPN Classic channel they were trying to keep afloat. The 2004 WSOP was the most important event to happen, specially because it almost got canceled. Binions was locked up through the winter of 2004. If Harrahs doesn't come in and reopens Binions the poker world will look different. https://www.pokernews.com/news/2014/05/h...
He doesn't get a lot of credit, but Greg to me was the first to embrace the role as WSOP Champ = poker ambassador. I just remember seeing Greg and Hachem out there in the media during the boom years more often than Money was. Greg is really leaning into the role now with his work with ACR, but Greg and Hachem were often featured more often during the boom days then Moneymaker. If you say Moneymaker your join date was probably before 2012 or so. Fact is Chris wasn't covered much 2004-2008.
WPT and even more early Celebrity Poker Showdown were doing huge numbers before the 2003 WSOP aired. Celebrity Poker Showdown will never get the credit, but for a short while it was just as huge as both. I think it did a helluva of job bring poker to the mainstream. Easily drawing a 1.0-1.2 ratings every week. WPT was always a huge ratings success. It was funny when Moneymaker made a final table they went out of their way not to mention WSOP or World Champion if I recall, they really tried to downplay the WSOP in those early episodes. The one crazy stat that I think gets lost is in 2007 during the WPT Championship in a $25k 639 players played on one bullet. Reentry saved poker tournaments today and the WPT. I could imagine what that number would be if reentry was a normal thing.
Binion Family
WPT
The team around the 2004 WSOP
It's obviously Henry Orenstein. The huge productions of the WPT and ESPN WSOP don't happen without the hole card camera. And Chris Moneymaker could have finished 2nd or 839th and it doesn't change the boom.
WSOP Main Event:
1995: 273
1996: 295
1997: 312
1998: 350
Rounders
1999: 393
2000: 512
2001: 613
2002: 631
Hole Card Cam
2003: 839
2004: 2.576
2005: 5,619
2006: 8,773
It's obviously literally who, ignore the big jump before 2004.
When did the full tilt commercials start
Robbi Jade Lew almost split the game and called in all the "top-dude" pros with videos and drama. Like "da mista" Doug Polk, she has a fashion for good drama. I rest my case.
Isai Scheinberg gets my vote. He opened up the game (the right way) to thousands of players that couldn't access live poker.
Gotta be Phil. Phil Gordon. By being a poker commentator on ESPN and hosting Celebrity Poker Showdown on Bravo, he brought poker to the masses. His winning good looks didn't hurt either lol. He's moved on to other stuff alas, but thank you, Phil, for all you've done for poker.
The only place that narcissistic clown is the most important person in poker is his own mind.
He would but calling himself Moneymaker made his win even better. Of course if he used his real name, Smith, which is so common, he would have come across as an even bigger "everyman" and that may have made him even more popular than the Moneymaker.
Wait, his real last name is Smith? I had no idea haha.
