Name: The WSOP’s Industry Employees Event… formerly the Casino Employees Event… formerly the Dealers World Poker Championship.
Age: 25
Appearance: A two-day WSOP bracelet event taking place May 27-28.
I remember this one — it’s one of the first events of every World Series of Poker. That’s right. Before the WSOP kicks off in earnest, this $500 event is held to spread some love to those who work so hard to make each series so successful: the dealers and the staff behind the scenes.
That sounds disturbingly wholesome. Don’t worry, it’s not. It’s actually another issue for poker players to argue about online.
Phew, I know where I am with those. What’s the problem? The event is exclusively for ‘industry employees’, but how do you define one of those? The WSOP now says, “Open to anyone employed in the gaming, hospitality or media industries.” That’s a pretty wide net.
Didn’t it used to be only for the dealers? Back in the day, sure.
Hang on, who dealt then? Good question. The new, young dealers would deal the cards, and the older ones would play… And point out all the mistakes their younger colleagues were making.
So they changed the name and opened it up to, what, floor staff? Servers? Executives? They’re all included. But how about vloggers, cardroom owners, writers, spokespeople? Should they be allowed in?
Yeah, I guess they count too. So by that logic you’d include Daniel Negreanu, Doug Polk, Phil Galfond and Phil Hellmuth?
Whoa there, that doesn’t seem entirely fair. You’ve got to draw the line somewhere. And that’s precisely the problem: Where do you draw the line? Can a Hall-of-Fame player take part if they’ve written a few articles? And at the other end of the scale, would you qualify if you’ve shot one out-of-focus vlog on a YouTube channel with three views?
Okay, I see the problem, but this event has been running annually for 25 years — why the fuss now? Last year, when it was called the ‘Casino Employees Event’, a bunch of entrants got called out for being ‘too pro’ and not actually employed by a casino.
So, change the name again. They did — to the ‘Industry Employees Event’. And guess what: it’s still an ambiguous ethical and linguistic minefield.
What have ethics got to do with it? If you don’t let the full-time pros enter, you get a softer field. It’s arguably the easiest way to win a WSOP bracelet, and therefore has a big appeal to anyone who’s desperate to win one — which is pretty much everyone in poker who doesn’t already have one, as well as most of those who do.
All this for a piece of jewelry and a little fame? First prize in last year’s employees event was almost $80K.
Hmm… I write half this column, that makes me an ‘industry employee’, right? I’ll see you there.
Do say: “Dear PokerOrg, I’d like to apply for a job…”
Don’t say: “...from May 27-28.”
