WSOP Sold!

Bit more info... Will be interesting what this brings.

https://pokerfuse.com/news/industry/221310-caesars-sells-wsop-brand-ggpoker-500m-will/

pokerfuse

Caesars Sells WSOP Brand to GGPoker for $500M but Will Continue to Operate WSOP Online For Now

From the players' point of view, it will be awful.

Rake will go up.

No more Diamond reg lines? If so, that's it for me. Probably.

It says a lot about how hard they were screwing us, for someone to think it's worth more than half a billion dollars.

The usefulness of the diamond reg lines has been greatly reduced with the advent of fast trac and online pre reg. However, unless there’s some news I missed, what makes you think anything about the registration process is definitely changing, at least in the near term?

The proprietors of GG certainly have deep pokers and a good technology footprint. This could lead to the sort of technological improvements many have been clamoring for.

What I would worry about most is stuff like rake and monopolistic practices.

They're the biggest brand in poker, but they're not the only game in town, so if they drop the ball then someone else will be there to pick it up.

To me it seems unrealistic that a company whose core competency is 100% online will put forth anything close to a sincere effort to promote and advance live poker.

There’s already a thread about this in NVG:

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/ne...

But I suppose it makes sense to have it here, too.

I’m definitely pessimistic about the future of the WSOP now.

Diamond is a CET card status. I'm guessing the new owners wouldn't care about another casino's card status.

They didn't spend half a billion dollars for nothing. They hope to expand their business and make some big money from the WSOP. They must have identified ways to get more revenue or reduce costs.

Ironically, it hits close to home. My employer was just taken over by a company that has no business enterprises in what we do. Contrary to what a lot of people think, big companies like that don't only look at expanding their core competencies. Sometimes the easiest way to expand into new areas is take over an established business.

I saw some comment that it's going to have a big effect on online poker. Not for people like me. There's no legal online real money poker in my state.

Right, same here, but there was some speculation that GG essentially has a plan, albeit a gamble, to try to push for regulations on a federal level. If successful, they would profit greatly from having ownership of WSOP.

If the plan doesn’t work, I think they might be taking a bath here.

I just know Caesar’s is massive enough with plenty of knowledgeable staff who would ensure they aren’t making a poor business decision. So unless GG is successful in their push, I think Caesar’s definitely came out ahead in this deal.

Besides, the WSOP will still be held at Caesar properties for the next 20 years. So they get all hotel, parking, food, and extra gambling revenue by hosting it. The only thing they don’t get now is the rake. But they also reduced their logistical expenses to essentially zero.

And we’re talking a half a billion dollars! That’s a ton of coin GG will need to recoup to make it worthwhile.

I think it’s still unknown, at least from what I’ve read, how this arrangement will work. Does GG get use of Caesar’s convention space for free or for a steep discount?

If so, I think that means Caesar’s could be tempted to pass on holding the event at some point if some other convention wants the space. This is why other venues like Wynn and Venetian don’t get use of their convention space in the Summer. It costs too much and poker isn’t worth it. And as big as the WSOP is, it’s tiny when it comes to convention size.

I assume the WSOP re-upped its contract with HS/Paris (I think the original deal was for three years). So I’m guessing things won’t change much in the near future. Of course, CET broke a convention contract to move the WSOP to HS/Paris in the first place. So all bets are off if someone else comes along. We literally could be in a situation where we go into a year not knowing where the WSOP will be held. Or maybe things will remain more or less as they have been. As poker players, we should all be hoping for the latter. GG *might* have deep pockets, but I don’t get the sense that poker sites have been long-living entities.

I agree, there’s a lot that remains to be seen. I only read that they agreed to provide a venue for 20 years but that doesn’t mean it’s free. Part of me assumes it’s either free or “at cost” of the water/electricity that would be used. Some sort of fantastic deal or I don’t think they would have worked it into the contract.

I hope it maintains the status quo but I suspect it will slowly revert to nearly all online events over the next 20 years. I hope I’m wrong, though.

Online poker has expanded over the last few years, yet live poker is thriving. Of course, live casino games may be a thing of the past in the foreseeable future, which would change things. But in the meantime, I think it’s too early to commit to a dim future for live poker. People want the experience of staring their opponents in the face. and they want the social aspect of poker. I’d be willing to bet the vast majority of players today would agree with that. Maybe not all the pros or wannabe pros. But the vast majority of players.

Won't happen. A lot of people would never play online for serious money. It's too easy to cheat and collude.

I don't understand the economics of it for either party -- Caesar's or GG.
Somebody 'splain it to me. Did GG just buy a brand that they can apply to new tournament series in Europe or Asia or where ever they want to pop one up?
Caesar's still gets plenty of room revenue during the hottest and least desirable time of the year. How does Caesar's lose?