Watered Down

As more World Series of Poker bracelets are awarded each year (245 in 2024), poker players wonder if they are losing their gravitas.

Oct 09, 2024

VIEWS: The World Series of Poker will award nearly 245 bracelets in 2024, which has some people wondering when enough is enough.
QUICK HITTER: David Rebuck receives Vixio's lifetime achievement award.
NEWS: Alberta pumps the brakes on online gambling efforts as advertising restriction bill advances in Ottawa.
BEYOND the HEADLINE: Stakeholders express concerns about Canadian advertising restrictions.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: News and views from Day 2 of G2E.
STRAY THOUGHTS: Missouri sports betting initiative’s $50 million fight.

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Are WSOP Bracelets Becoming Participation Trophies?

The most coveted trophy in poker is a World Series of Poker bracelet. The Main Event bracelet is the biggest of the big, but the WSOP also awards bracelets for the side tournaments on the schedule, and these carry a similar weight on a poker resume (a 4-time bracelet winner says a lot about a player’s skill). Or at least they did.

As Pokerfuse’s Anuj Arora tweeted out, the World Series of Poker is awarding 245 bracelets in 2024:

That’s more than the total from the first 20 years of the WSOP combined (1970-1989), when 202 bracelets were awarded, and more than the entirety of the 1990s, when 204 bracelets were handed out.

Rightfully, there is a debate over watering down bracelets, as the average number of bracelet events has grown more than tenfold since the nineties.

Poker reporter Will Shillibier believes there needs to be a line drawn at online events, tweeting:

Professional poker player David Baker (“ODB” David Baker, not David “Bakes” Baker) had a slightly different opinion: “WSOP Vegas bracelets are the only ones that matter. Sorry, not sorry to all those who win them elsewhere and are offended. Summer online bracelets are also real.”

Arora made a very good point about the increased number of bracelets available, noting the increase in entries and increased difficulty of winning a WSOP tournament in the modern era:

Quick Hitter: David Rebuck Lands Lifetime Achievement Award

David Rebuck, the former Director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE), will be this year's recipient of Vixio’s Award for Compliance Lifetime Achievement at the 2024 Global Regulatory Awards — Vixio is a newsletter sponsor.

BONUS: You can download a free copy of Vixio’s U.S. Sports Betting Outlook here.

"I am truly honored to be selected by Vixio as this year’s Compliance Lifetime Achievement Award recipient,” Rebuck said. “Vixio’s recognition of me reflects the Governors in New Jersey, who gave me their confidence and full support during my tenure as Director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

“In accepting the award, I must also acknowledge the exceptional work and commitment to excellence provided to me and the industry by the hundreds of DGE employees, including attorneys, civil and criminal investigators, technical laboratory service analysts, and support staff during my tenure. The privilege of leading the Division will always serve as the highlight of my public service to the State of New Jersey."

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News from the North: Two Canadian iGaming Stories

Alberta appeared to be fast-tracking online gambling regulations, but according to reporting from Tom Nightingale, regulated online gambling sites are unlikely to launch in 2024, with a launch likely at the tail end of 2025.

Minister Dale Nally’s Press Secretary, Brandon Aboultaif, told Canadian Gaming Business that the administration plans to lay out its plans in 2025 as it needs more time to talk with stakeholders.

“We want to get our iGaming strategy right by ensuring fairness and transparency to everyone… Industry stakeholders have told us that we need to continue our conversations so they can provide more input on the model.
“While we aim to put the strategy forward in 2025, we will continue to provide updates as this work unfolds.”

“The timeline has paused, but I don’t believe there’s any less commitment to getting this done,” Canadian Gaming Association President and CEO Paul Burns said. “There’s a lot of work to do. They recognize that, they understand that, and they’re taking more time to get it right. That’s the encouraging part.”

At the same time, the Canadian government is advancing a bill that creates a national framework around gambling advertisements. As reported by Legal Sports Report, “The Senate Committee on Transport and Communications made no changes to Bill S-269 during a brief clause-by-clause consideration meeting Wednesday before sending a report to the full Senate.”

Beyond the Headline: NFL, NHL, and Canadian Gaming Association Have Concerns

The proposed restrictions on sports betting and gambling advertising aren’t without critics. The Canadian Gaming Association’s Paul Burns told the government that the rules are largely unnecessary (as most are already in place in Ontario). You can listen to Burns discuss this and more on the most recent episode of the Gaming News Canada podcast.

Meanwhile, the NFL and NHL are cautioning against going too far, per reporting from Geoff Zochodne at Covers.com (my go-to for Canada reporting).

"The elimination of illegal gambling, especially offshore betting operators, requires not simply a legal alternative, but robust, active monitoring and enforcement backed by significant civil and criminal penalties for violations," Jonathan Nabavi, the NFL's vice president of public policy and government affairs wrote in a letter. “Unreasonably curtailing responsible advertising will inevitably hamper the important effort to channelize illegal sports betting into the legal market."

The NHL submitted a similar letter, with Conal Berberich, group vice president, and deputy general counsel for the NHL, echoing Burns' sentiments that the restrictions are already in place: “We support the bill’s consumer protection orientation given our ongoing League-wide commitment to that end. However, we question the need for national legislation in light of the healthy cooperation among industry stakeholders promoting consumer protection that already exists and the ongoing successful Sports Book regulatory environment at the provincial level.”

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Around the Watercooler

Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.

More from G2E, this time on legalization efforts.

A trio of successive tweets from Ryan Butler provides (not-so-rosy) updates on sports betting efforts in three tribal gaming states:

Per Butler, “James Siva of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association; CA tribes have concerns iGaming could hurt in-person casino revenues and the communities that depend on them.”

During a separate panel, Butler also got some news on Texas from LVS SVP Andy Abboud and FanDuel Head of Government Affairs Hector Fernandez:

“Texas Lt Gov Dan Patrick, who has blocked sports betting & casino gaming legislation, will bring the bill up for a vote IF a majority of fellow Republicans in the Senate support it, Las Vegas Sands SVP Andy Abboud said today; the (more) difficult part will be getting those votes.”

"We’re not leaving until it's done," Abboud said. Of course, that doesn’t mean 2025.

“IF (big if) Texas legalizes sports betting in the coming years, the market would allow pretty much anyone who wants in, Cesar Fernandez, FanDuel's Head of Government Relations said during today's G2E conference; expect FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, bet365 & (many) others.”

More G2E Updates:

Stray Thoughts

The Missouri sports betting ballot initiative fight is getting expensive. It’s not at California 2022 levels (nearly half a billion dollars), but it has surpassed $50 million by my count.

On October 7, Betfair (FanDuel) donated an additional $5 million to the cause, matching a similar contribution from DraftKings on October 2, bringing the tally to $40 million. The complete list of contributions can be found here.

Caesars seeded the opposition campaign with over $4 million in late September. More recently, two of its Missouri properties sent $3.3 million and $3.4 million to the “No” campaign on October 2, and a third property donated $3.3 million on October 7. The current tally from Caesars is $14 million — all contributions can be found here.