Pick your five against the field for next week's GUKPT

[turny]

out of a 300 field i think around 20 - 25 truly sponsored players in each, then another 50 monkeys wearing a t shirt they got of some site that they think people will say " oooh look a pro"

then big gay baz sponsered by the tax man and kev by Ginsters

so have u decided what shirt your going to wear yet now you have qualified?

[AlexMartin]

Praz Bansi 100/1
Willie Tann 150/1
Barney Boatman 150/1
Karl Marenholz 150/1
Priyan[/url][url=http://www.blondepoker.com/blondepedia/blondepedia_view_player.php?player_id=354] De Mel 200/1[/b]

Ok that price is phenomenal, £50 lumped on.

[phatomch]

out of a 300 field i think around 20 - 25 truly sponsored players in each, then another 50 monkeys wearing a t shirt they got of some site that they think people will say " oooh look a pro"

then big gay baz sponsered by the tax man and kev by Ginsters

so have u decided what shirt your going to wear yet now you have qualified?

 my Blonde one of course with my screen name on, or my gbpt one  not sure yet.

[littlemissC]

little miss c, chili, Pete Linton, big desi, nik hicks & me,
oh that's 6...well 5 of them then.

slim pickings for the blackpool posse that far south imo 

nick hicks will be in canada though so that makes 5.my first GUKPT i cant wait.

[AlrightJack]

I agree with you that Nik is an excellent player - he's been knocking at the door for quite a while and it surely won't be long before it stays ajar long enough to let him get past the threshold.  However, on the issue of sponsorship - and really this is not about Nik, but about the whole sponsorship thing in general. There is far too much expectation amongst players to be sponsored. In a few years time sponsorships will be a thing of the past - not enough value for sponsors, it costs too much, too little return and marketing money can be better spent in other ways.

Pokerstars have their team of players, largely designed to ensure they have a presenece within the poker communities of as many countries as possible.

Full Tilt have lots of big names and this strategy was designed in part to give them some cut through in their ad campaigns, given that they were relatively late to market, compared with the other big sites.

Betfair, Blue Square, Ladbrokes, William Hill and other companies also have sponsorship programs, to varying degrees. I was largely responsible for getting the Blue Square one off the ground and our current sponsored players are Mickey Wernick, Praz Bansi, Karl Mahrenholz and Kevin O'Leary.

However, if the clock were tunred back three years I probably would not set it up again. This is not because the program has been disappointing - far from it - all of our players have enabled Blue Square to have constant exposure in the poker press over the last few years and this has been good for the company, however, the poker press is a tiny market place and sponsoring players has little impact on getting coverage in the wider press. The only sponsorsships that are going to fulfill this goal are sponsorships of celebrity poker players - e.g Shane Warn for 888 and Boris Becker for Poker stars.

I can't see many more sposnorships for people other than celebrities or high rakers in the future. Perhaps from new sites, but only for a limited time period until they establish themsleves and start to look at the bigger picture. Some companies will use the ego boost associated with sponsorship to give back to their high rakers, but this is really rakeback in disguise.

Every week we get approached by lots and lots of players wishing to be sponsored. They usually point solely to their prowess as players as the reason they should be sponsored. That is simply not enough. There are lots of good players who are not sponsored, because being good at the game is a secondary reason to sponsor someone. Their ability to gain press interest is the number one reason and the publicity they garner has to be considered to be positve.

I received an email ast week from a 17-year old who wants to be sponsored to play at the Vic at next week's GUKPT, just a few days after his 18th birthday. He thinks this would be great publicity, but it would not be. I think that players playing in major events as soon as they become old enough to do so is bad for the industry and certainly not something for a sponsor to harp on about. It only goes to highlight that those players MUST have been playing online illegaly when they were underage to be able to step up to that size of game as soon as they come of age.

I think Betfair's sponsorship of Annette_15 is ill advised. She may well be the hottest name in poker at the moment, but she had been playing online since she was 15. 15 for gods sake. How can this be anything other than bad for the industry in general - highlighting the illegal use of online poker sites by a minor and the innaction of the sites she played on by not stopping here from doing so. The recent announcement of Sorel Mizzi's sponsorship by Betfair is also rather baffling. Whether you believe what he did was wrong or not, it is strange that Betfair wish to applaud him for his actions by awarding him with a sponsorship deal.

Every time I attend a poker festival, someone bangs their chest and says 'when are you gonna sponsor me', usually just after they've won something. I smile grimly and laugh it off.

My advice to players is forget about being sponsored. It probably isn't going to happen. Control your egos enough to realise that very few people care if you've made 6 final tables in the last 2 months, least of all potential sponsors. It is even worse when players get moody about not being offered sponsorship deals, expecting that it is their god given right to be sponsored. Petulance is an ugly trait and not one that is going to endear you to a potential sponsor.

There are players out there who I think are deserving of their sponsorship deals, but even the best of these realise they were in the right place at the right time. IMO sponsorship of players is on the way out. Those of you who are sponsored, enjoy it while you can. The big cheeses have woken up, they can smell the coffee and their cheque books should be firmly in their pockets. Nobody is chomping at the bit to 'snap' up players.

"Do not ask for to be sponsored, as a refusal often offends."

 
An intresting post Jon and a lot of home truths with which I agree but ....
Be careful not to shoot yourself in the foot.
Without sponsored players a lot of the festivals and tours such as the GUKPT will lose a large number of entrant`s.
A lot of aspiring pro`s use the chance of sponsorship as an extra incentive to enter and, do well in, the above mentioned events hoping to attract attention for their efforts from the major poker sites. Take away that dream and again... numbers will drop.
Years ago most aspiring pro`s travelled to play the events in the USA. take away sponsorship for players in this country and you may well find more players willing to take that chance once again and, this too will cause a drop in numbers at UK festivals
And whilst your comments are intelligent and well meant, remember one Gerald Ratner?...He too was to honest for his own good.

The difference is that Ratner was selling crap jewellry and by making that admission, nobody wanted to buy his stuff any more. I don't think that applies to the GUKPT or any other festival. There are really not that many sponsored pro around, lots of wannabees yes, but not that many who are actually only there for their sponsors. The majority of these sponsored players would come and play anyway, with or without the backing. If the effect of no more sponsorships is that lots of the wanabees give up, well, it may just reduce the strength of the field and attract more value hunters - as most of those who aspire to be sponsored are better than average players. It will find its equilibrium. Maybe the numbers are too high anyway at these events - the circuit is so much more crowded now these days and its hard for the money to keep turning over without there being some attrition. Sponsorship is not what this game of poker is about. Its a relatively new phenomenon and one that has caused a lot of false hope amongst a lot of people.

Here's another story about an approach I had last week - I received a phone call from someone (who I'd never heard of before and who has no live results of any note) saying that I had offered him a sponsorship deal a few months ago and that he had then refused, but had now changed his mind and would like to accept it. It was of course a complete fabrication. He told our receptionist that he is currently sponsored by Ladbrokes. When he spoke to me he admitted that wasn't true and instead said he was sponsored by William Hill (which of course was another lie). This sort of approach is no excpetion, we get lots along this line.

[AndrewT]

Here's another story about an approach I had last week - I received a phone call from someone (who I'd never heard of before and who has no live results of any note) saying that I had offered him a sponsorship deal a few months ago and that he had then refused, but had now changed his mind and would like to accept it. It was of course a complete fabrication. He told our receptionist that he is currently sponsored by Ladbrokes. When he spoke to me he admitted that wasn't true and instead said he was sponsored by William Hill (which of course was another lie). This sort of approach is no excpetion, we get lots along this line.

I phoned you in complete confidence Jon - you shouldn't have blabbed it all over the forum.

Anyway, as way of recompense, I will happily accept an offer of sponsorship.

[Jim R]

Wow Jon next time tell it how it is, I hope with all the money you will be saving you will be adding more cash to your already great value comps.

[blonde17]

Wow Jon next time tell it how it is, I hope with all the money you will be saving you will be adding more cash to your already great value comps.

I agree that the added money is a nice gesture but, Killing peoples dreams and aspirations, I`m not so sure and as to the future....Grosvenor may not be Grosvenor next year and Jon may have a new boss....who knows?

[julian]

surely the best ever hijacked thread!
a very insightful post jon & alot of what you write does make sense.
i think a poker site having one or two sponsored players does give that site a consistent presence on the live scene, poker press exposure (besides advertisements) & is also a very useful point of contact/representation for players to come up & have a chat to.
from my own (slightly bias) experience, when you consider the cost involved, i think it is still a very worthwhile avenue for an online site to have.
somehow or other poker does need to infiltrate the mainstream press - when you consider the lolly that is up for grabs these days it's pretty amazing that it still struggles to get that widespread coverage that it now deserves.
out of interest, what was the response when the press officers at blue sq/grosvenor/rank tried to get the gukpt some regular exposure in the press?

[AlrightJack]

Added money to tournaments and tours is exactly how I believe money should be used - to benefit as many people as possible rather than just a few. It is because I feel this way that the added value this year on the GUKPT is being spread out the way it is - Champion of Champions Tournament (£75,000), rankings (£30,000), live satellites (up to £40,000), online festival added money (£10,000) and Grand Final seats to the main events winners (£36,000).

To use an expression that Tightend is so fond of using - sponsorship of players is a false economy.

It may now surprise you to hear that actually, I'm not entirely opposed to sponsorship. - any sponsored player should have a commitment to play/rake a certain amount on the site of the company who sponsors them - this reduces the cost to the company and therefore well structured sponsorship deals can be worthwhile. For example, if a player is sponsored to the tune of £25,000 of buy-ins and expenses, but that player generates £15,000 in rake, the cost to the company is only £10,000. At this sort of price, the publicity that player creates may well be worth it. Blue Square's sponsorship program is now structured in this way and this may well see it survive for a few years yet.

Too many players who aspire to be sponsored are only thinking about what the sponsor can do for them, not what they can do for the sponsor.

[AlrightJack]

surely the best ever hijacked thread!
a very insightful post jon & alot of what you write does make sense.
i think a poker site having one or two sponsored players does give that site a consistent presence on the live scene, poker press exposure (besides advertisements) & is also a very useful point of contact/representation for players to come up & have a chat to.
from my own (slightly bias) experience, when you consider the cost involved, i think it is still a very worthwhile avenue for an online site to have.
somehow or other poker does need to infiltrate the mainstream press - when you consider the lolly that is up for grabs these days it's pretty amazing that it still struggles to get that widespread coverage that it now deserves.
out of interest, what was the response when the press officers at blue sq/grosvenor/rank tried to get the gukpt some regular exposure in the press?

Its very difficult. Most mainstream press don't give a flying about poker. The only real mainstream press interest we got last year on the tour was when Michael Greco won. Even that was minor interest (a small mention in the Sun and the London free papers). Most mainstream press simply don't care about poker. Either they have editorial stances against anything related to gambling or more likely, they have other things to write about that interest their readers more. Shane Warn's sponsorship by 888 only got mainstream press attention because of the cricket matches he will have to miss due to playing poker.

[AlrightJack]

surely the best ever hijacked thread!
a very insightful post jon & alot of what you write does make sense.
i think a poker site having one or two sponsored players does give that site a consistent presence on the live scene, poker press exposure (besides advertisements) & is also a very useful point of contact/representation for players to come up & have a chat to.
from my own (slightly bias) experience, when you consider the cost involved, i think it is still a very worthwhile avenue for an online site to have.
somehow or other poker does need to infiltrate the mainstream press - when you consider the lolly that is up for grabs these days it's pretty amazing that it still struggles to get that widespread coverage that it now deserves.
out of interest, what was the response when the press officers at blue sq/grosvenor/rank tried to get the gukpt some regular exposure in the press?

I do also agree that having one or two sponsored players to maintain a presence on the live circuit is a good thing, especially if those players are good ambassadors and tick the other boxes I have mentioned (gaining publicity and playing on the sponsor's site). It has a value, not neccessarily a huge value, but a value all the same. But having one or two is not going to satisfy all those who aspire to be sponsored, because by that definition, there are not going to be many, if any, new sponsorships up for grabs.

My best advice is still for players to forget about being sponsored and concentrate on getting the lot at the poker tables.

[ripple11]

surely the best ever hijacked thread!
a very insightful post jon & alot of what you write does make sense.
i think a poker site having one or two sponsored players does give that site a consistent presence on the live scene, poker press exposure (besides advertisements) & is also a very useful point of contact/representation for players to come up & have a chat to.
from my own (slightly bias) experience, when you consider the cost involved, i think it is still a very worthwhile avenue for an online site to have.
somehow or other poker does need to infiltrate the mainstream press - when you consider the lolly that is up for grabs these days it's pretty amazing that it still struggles to get that widespread coverage that it now deserves.
out of interest, what was the response when the press officers at blue sq/grosvenor/rank tried to get the gukpt some regular exposure in the press?

As Jon says, the best way to get press attention is thro' a Celeb.  ie when Grecco won his leg.. National radio and newspapers gave it coverage.
Cant wait for Warney to win a hand

[RED-DOG]

I agree with you that Nik is an excellent player - he's been knocking at the door for quite a while and it surely won't be long before it stays ajar long enough to let him get past the threshold.  However, on the issue of sponsorship - and really this is not about Nik, but about the whole sponsorship thing in general. There is far too much expectation amongst players to be sponsored. In a few years time sponsorships will be a thing of the past - not enough value for sponsors, it costs too much, too little return and marketing money can be better spent in other ways.

Pokerstars have their team of players, largely designed to ensure they have a presenece within the poker communities of as many countries as possible.

Full Tilt have lots of big names and this strategy was designed in part to give them some cut through in their ad campaigns, given that they were relatively late to market, compared with the other big sites.

Betfair, Blue Square, Ladbrokes, William Hill and other companies also have sponsorship programs, to varying degrees. I was largely responsible for getting the Blue Square one off the ground and our current sponsored players are Mickey Wernick, Praz Bansi, Karl Mahrenholz and Kevin O'Leary.

However, if the clock were tunred back three years I probably would not set it up again. This is not because the program has been disappointing - far from it - all of our players have enabled Blue Square to have constant exposure in the poker press over the last few years and this has been good for the company, however, the poker press is a tiny market place and sponsoring players has little impact on getting coverage in the wider press. The only sponsorsships that are going to fulfill this goal are sponsorships of celebrity poker players - e.g Shane Warn for 888 and Boris Becker for Poker stars.

I can't see many more sposnorships for people other than celebrities or high rakers in the future. Perhaps from new sites, but only for a limited time period until they establish themsleves and start to look at the bigger picture. Some companies will use the ego boost associated with sponsorship to give back to their high rakers, but this is really rakeback in disguise.

Every week we get approached by lots and lots of players wishing to be sponsored. They usually point solely to their prowess as players as the reason they should be sponsored. That is simply not enough. There are lots of good players who are not sponsored, because being good at the game is a secondary reason to sponsor someone. Their ability to gain press interest is the number one reason and the publicity they garner has to be considered to be positve.

I received an email ast week from a 17-year old who wants to be sponsored to play at the Vic at next week's GUKPT, just a few days after his 18th birthday. He thinks this would be great publicity, but it would not be. I think that players playing in major events as soon as they become old enough to do so is bad for the industry and certainly not something for a sponsor to harp on about. It only goes to highlight that those players MUST have been playing online illegaly when they were underage to be able to step up to that size of game as soon as they come of age.

I think Betfair's sponsorship of Annette_15 is ill advised. She may well be the hottest name in poker at the moment, but she had been playing online since she was 15. 15 for gods sake. How can this be anything other than bad for the industry in general - highlighting the illegal use of online poker sites by a minor and the innaction of the sites she played on by not stopping here from doing so. The recent announcement of Sorel Mizzi's sponsorship by Betfair is also rather baffling. Whether you believe what he did was wrong or not, it is strange that Betfair wish to applaud him for his actions by awarding him with a sponsorship deal.

Every time I attend a poker festival, someone bangs their chest and says 'when are you gonna sponsor me', usually just after they've won something. I smile grimly and laugh it off.

My advice to players is forget about being sponsored. It probably isn't going to happen. Control your egos enough to realise that very few people care if you've made 6 final tables in the last 2 months, least of all potential sponsors. It is even worse when players get moody about not being offered sponsorship deals, expecting that it is their god given right to be sponsored. Petulance is an ugly trait and not one that is going to endear you to a potential sponsor.

There are players out there who I think are deserving of their sponsorship deals, but even the best of these realise they were in the right place at the right time. IMO sponsorship of players is on the way out. Those of you who are sponsored, enjoy it while you can. The big cheeses have woken up, they can smell the coffee and their cheque books should be firmly in their pockets. Nobody is chomping at the bit to 'snap' up players.

"Do not ask for to be sponsored, as a refusal often offends."

What a brutally honest, bucket of cold water, smack round the chops with a wet haddock of a post.

Which ever way you cut it, 99.5% of players won't get a deal, and most of those who do won't get it because of their poker ability alone.

Even if the sponsorship dream does come true, it will only last for a year or two at best.

My advice

Play for fun. Don't lose a lot, don't expect to win a lot. Discounting financial gain, poker is one of the most accessable and rewarding pastimes you will ever find.


Play for profit. If you decide to take this route, do it off your own back. Don't borrow, and don't rely on backers. Don't get starry eyed, stay within your means. Your most important assets are your integrity and your bankroll, look after both at all costs.

If you can make a modest living playing poker, that's a great achievement, if you can make a good living, that's fantastic.

[LLevan]

I agree with you that Nik is an excellent player - he's been knocking at the door for quite a while and it surely won't be long before it stays ajar long enough to let him get past the threshold.  However, on the issue of sponsorship - and really this is not about Nik, but about the whole sponsorship thing in general. There is far too much expectation amongst players to be sponsored. In a few years time sponsorships will be a thing of the past - not enough value for sponsors, it costs too much, too little return and marketing money can be better spent in other ways.

Pokerstars have their team of players, largely designed to ensure they have a presenece within the poker communities of as many countries as possible.

Full Tilt have lots of big names and this strategy was designed in part to give them some cut through in their ad campaigns, given that they were relatively late to market, compared with the other big sites.

Betfair, Blue Square, Ladbrokes, William Hill and other companies also have sponsorship programs, to varying degrees. I was largely responsible for getting the Blue Square one off the ground and our current sponsored players are Mickey Wernick, Praz Bansi, Karl Mahrenholz and Kevin O'Leary.

However, if the clock were tunred back three years I probably would not set it up again. This is not because the program has been disappointing - far from it - all of our players have enabled Blue Square to have constant exposure in the poker press over the last few years and this has been good for the company, however, the poker press is a tiny market place and sponsoring players has little impact on getting coverage in the wider press. The only sponsorsships that are going to fulfill this goal are sponsorships of celebrity poker players - e.g Shane Warn for 888 and Boris Becker for Poker stars.

I can't see many more sposnorships for people other than celebrities or high rakers in the future. Perhaps from new sites, but only for a limited time period until they establish themsleves and start to look at the bigger picture. Some companies will use the ego boost associated with sponsorship to give back to their high rakers, but this is really rakeback in disguise.

Every week we get approached by lots and lots of players wishing to be sponsored. They usually point solely to their prowess as players as the reason they should be sponsored. That is simply not enough. There are lots of good players who are not sponsored, because being good at the game is a secondary reason to sponsor someone. Their ability to gain press interest is the number one reason and the publicity they garner has to be considered to be positve.

I received an email ast week from a 17-year old who wants to be sponsored to play at the Vic at next week's GUKPT, just a few days after his 18th birthday. He thinks this would be great publicity, but it would not be. I think that players playing in major events as soon as they become old enough to do so is bad for the industry and certainly not something for a sponsor to harp on about. It only goes to highlight that those players MUST have been playing online illegaly when they were underage to be able to step up to that size of game as soon as they come of age.

I think Betfair's sponsorship of Annette_15 is ill advised. She may well be the hottest name in poker at the moment, but she had been playing online since she was 15. 15 for gods sake. How can this be anything other than bad for the industry in general - highlighting the illegal use of online poker sites by a minor and the innaction of the sites she played on by not stopping here from doing so. The recent announcement of Sorel Mizzi's sponsorship by Betfair is also rather baffling. Whether you believe what he did was wrong or not, it is strange that Betfair wish to applaud him for his actions by awarding him with a sponsorship deal.

Every time I attend a poker festival, someone bangs their chest and says 'when are you gonna sponsor me', usually just after they've won something. I smile grimly and laugh it off.

My advice to players is forget about being sponsored. It probably isn't going to happen. Control your egos enough to realise that very few people care if you've made 6 final tables in the last 2 months, least of all potential sponsors. It is even worse when players get moody about not being offered sponsorship deals, expecting that it is their god given right to be sponsored. Petulance is an ugly trait and not one that is going to endear you to a potential sponsor.

There are players out there who I think are deserving of their sponsorship deals, but even the best of these realise they were in the right place at the right time. IMO sponsorship of players is on the way out. Those of you who are sponsored, enjoy it while you can. The big cheeses have woken up, they can smell the coffee and their cheque books should be firmly in their pockets. Nobody is chomping at the bit to 'snap' up players.

"Do not ask for to be sponsored, as a refusal often offends."

What a brutally honest, bucket of cold water, smack round the chops with a wet haddock of a post.

Which ever way you cut it, 99.5% of players won't get a deal, and most of those who do won't get it because of their poker ability alone.

Even if the sponsorship dream does come true, it will only last for a year or two at best.

My advice

Play for fun. Don't lose a lot, don't expect to win a lot. Discounting financial gain, poker is one of the most accessable and rewarding pastimes you will ever find.


Play for profit. If you decide to take this route, do it off your own back. Don't borrow, and don't rely on backers. Don't get starry eyed, stay within your means. Your most important assets are your integrity and your bankroll, look after both at all costs.

If you can make a modest living playing poker, that's a great achievement, if you can make a good living, that's fantastic.