All the News That’s Fit to Print

We’ve noted in previous editorials and Industry News articles that one of the major complaints from online poker operators (at least those that are publicly-quoted and comment about such things) that the operating environment for their businesses is the most competitive it has ever been.

One of the perhaps less obvious side effects of this competition for poker players and their money is that Card Player has witnessed a massive upsurge in news emanating from the industry.

On one day in early April the Card Player’s Dublin office had a dozen news stories to choose from to fill our quota of stories for CardPlayerEurope.com.

A few days before that we had three strong World Series of Poker qualification promotion stories to choose from (eventually running them all).

It has become clear over the last few months that the industry is increasingly leveraging online and print media for news stories. Previously, in rosier times, this was less of an issue for online sites and live tournament organisers, many of whom lived by the motto “If you build it, they will come.”
That is not necessarily true any longer and with competition in the industry at fever pitch, having a story covered by reputable poker media is a cost-effective way of promoting a brand, a tournament, an online promotion, a new signing, or a big win.

This is, of course, great news for poker players and, more than ever, they should be checking online poker media daily for the latest promotions, opportunities, overlays, and up-coming events.

Be sure to check CardPlayerEurope.com every day for just this type of heads-up on what’s happening as I can assure you, things are busier than ever out there in online poker land.

Charity Begins at … the Poker Table

By the time you read this in mid-May 2009, upwards of €250,000 will have been raised for various charities in the UK and Ireland through poker over the preceding six weeks. No mean feat in a gloomy economic environment, and proof, if it were needed, that most poker players have at least a little bit of generosity squirreled away beneath otherwise impenetrable exteriors.

At the launch of the Ladbrokes Irish Poker Festival in late March, Boyzone star Shane Lynch donated €5,000 to the Marie Keating Foundation for cancer, while a couple of days later Poker for the Homeless, sponsored by Boylepoker in Dublin’s Jackpot Club, raised €10,000.

In mid-April the PaddyPowerPoker.com Irish Open aimed to raise €50,000 for a local children’s hospital, while in London the PRK-sponsored ninth annual Omar Sharif Poker and Backgammon Charity Tournament hoped to exceed last year’s tremendous haul of £200,000 for families living with HIV/AIDS in Africa.

As my mother was fond of reminding myself and my siblings when we complained as kids, “There’s always someone worse off than you.” A truth that remains constant and one that poker players have the generosity of spirit to recall in these straitened times. Congratulations to all those involved and long may it continue.