blonde poker forum

If i've read this correctly, i'm still hungover! The mob have parted company with prima poker!

Who will be next to sponsor them? As a group or individually???

Read what, where?

story on THM homepage Rob

Ta, thought it might be there, but too lazy to surf for it  :D

If you're that lazy I'll print it out and take it to Birmingham for you to read on saturday.

Looks like it's just a case of the sponsorship expiring rather than any falling out

I read it as they signed another 12 month deal but it won't be renewed. Not a bad deal for THM?

The Mob split with Prima ?

Surely Prima have got rid of the Mob ?

No necessarily...

Yes.

I wasn't trying to be funny, my point (which I'm sure you knew) is that the Hendon Mob need a sponsor more than Prima need to sponsor the Hendon Mob.

Maybe they got a better offer.

Yep, that's how I read the report

reads to me that they are splitting this month

are you reading something different from me?

"The Prima Network, the world's leading online poker network, and The Hendon Mob will conclude their third and final sponsorship deal this month."

Just reread it. I think you might be right but I was sure they were sponsored 2004 + 2005. Seems to say 2003 too so I guess two things apply for me.

1. Time flies bloody quick.

2. Need to read between the lines better :blonde:

My guess would be that prima split with the mob, of course the mob wouldn't like to admit that.

recently, they havent been pulling many results off....and i guess thats all that matters when it comes to sponsorship in any sport

Disagree with results being the thing that fuels the sponsorship! It is exposure that a company want, maybe along with advice promotions etc...

The more people talk about the hendon mob for example, prima will be happy as all press is good press!

I think that if prima and the mob have parted company, then it will not be long before they are resigned as they are a major brand within poker that will create publicity!

I agree. the mob are excellent ambassadors for any company they're invoved with. If Prima have dumped them (which I doubt) I think it's a mistake. i think it's far more likely the contract has run it's coarse and it has simply not been renegotiated. The mob are shrewd businessmen and I'm sure they have plenty of offers to consider.

I think you will this is just an evolution with the hendon mob, it doesnt take a genious to notice a few thigns over there.

Its clear that the mob are not all pulling in the same direction. I dont think Ram really cares about sponsership, he would rather be playing his huge cash games, i have never seen him contribute to the website other than through the poker diary. Ross in a similar way, he doesnt add much to the package.

Barney has done a HELL of a lot of work and without him the mob wouldnt be where it is today.

Joe i think though is the cornerstone of the mob, he puts in so many hours and all but manages the mob and from what i can tell him and barney manage the commercial aspects.

I personally dont think that is a great thing and that the mob in terms of all being equal was never going to hold out. I can see them going there own ways and i see Joe picking up a deal somewhere.

The mob have done well but its run its course in terms of a group sponsership deal.

Thats my take on it anyway

I found it a bit strange and disapointing that they didnt post more diaries this year.I would have thought that the diariy enteries were one reason that poeple kept coming back.If they lost the contract with prima because of the lower hit count and therefore a lower new player sign up rate i think  this is partly to blame.To me the Mobs results show that they are not really viable tournament players,without the Prima Deal.

I would have like to see diary enteries from four average guys who got really lucky ,were living the dream that all of us have, ie, to fly around the world playing in huge tournaments for free.I would have liked to hear stories of their experiences and annecdotes and trip reports.
But some where along the way thay started believing that they were actually world class players, and didnt have to write a diary or maintain the level of interest in the site.The database is good. But surely the hook is contact with 4 pros  playing in big tournaments, and hearing their advice and experiences.?.Although Joe and Barny did try their best, the other two were lame.

I mean even Negreanu writes a blog every 2 days or so... and he is 1 guy with alot more talent that all of the mob.Althought to a certain extent he is self publiciising...he doesnt have to worry a bout a million $ contract ,because he is very much a viable tournament player..I would have loved a contract like that.And i would have done alot more to try and keep it...especially on the diary and forum front.I wonder if they have another deal lined up?....and if they dont i wonder if Ross and Ram and to a lesser extent the other 2 regret not managing a weekly diary or more forum posts?

no 8)

The way some people are talking here it's coming across that it's of general opinion that the Hendom Mob aren't a top bunch of players. I don't think that's right tbh, they are among the top European circuit players IMO. Ram is someone who I think is a particularly excellent player.

Certainly Ram is a top player. However, as far as the sponsorship is concerned, it's simply a case that time has moved on.

When The Hendon Mob first signed up with Prima, they were the first big (maybe Roy Brindley was with Ladbrokes first?) British sponsored pros. People didn't care as much about things like tournament results because there wasn't the huge coverage of poker in this country, so they wouldn't have known the hard facts about how each member was doing. Prima certainly didn't care - what they were most concerned with was the more general media writing articles about THM, in which they'd be wearing their Prima stuff and mentioning how good the site was. 'Brave London boys take on the Americans at their own game' - yes we've all read it a million times but for those hoping to attract Brits to online poker it was a good hook.

Now, however, when even my mum has heard of Devilfish and Phil Hellmuth, who cares about THM? They have been overtaken by many other players in terms of public personae. Each dollar invested by Prima into THM would not be as profitable as it would have been in the past, because there is far more competition as far as poker faces go. Two years ago, every poker article in magazines was either about, or used as examples of pro players, THM. Now? A statistically insignificant survey of the covers of four recent, mainstream, British poker magazines has two Hellmuth, one Devilfish and one Ivey.

Don't get me wrong, what THM did for Prima was great - it got Prima business and (one would assume) was a tasty deal for THM. But it was a deal of its time. Kudos to THM for recognising and exploiting the desire for poker-related exposure in the media before most people - what they did for Prima and for themselves with the site made them pioneers in what now consitutes the British poker scene. I'm sure there are many people playing poker in this country now purely through reading an article in a magazine which featured THM.

 :goodpost: