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VLV update
#sigh
Comments
there could be a whole lot of legal issues thats stopping sky from running the vlv this year and its not just a case of booking flights and hotels.
im pretty sure the WSOP and all its trademark and naming rights are all held by a parent company, maybe the parent company has changed their terms with regard another poker room promoting its brand and vice versa thus stopping SKY from being able to use the name.
maybe there is a lot of new US law around online and live poker since this time last year thats maybe not made the news but is going on behind the scenes.
maybe what ive wrote is utter BS but just a different perspective
Good afternoon.
I've just got Online, having been otherwise engaged offline this morning.
I'm quite happy to address this issue, such as I'm able, & will do so soonest, hopefully this afternoon.
This thread will NOT be closed, as suggested in one Post, unless it becomes non-compliant.
Bear with me please, whilst I clear my overnight e-Mails & messages etc, & I'll then reply properly.
Thanks.
I was just wondering why there was such a hold up/delay with this announcement ?
Not many others can do the whole package like Sky can, think Sky has missed out on this one.
I'll start by reiterating the reasons, & what the current position is as to Sky Poker & WSOP 2013. Some of these reasons are Business matters, & as such confidential, so I won't be spelling it out precisely, but you should be able to get the gist of it.
When I've done that, I'll reply to the specific questions in the thread.
All that may take me a while, so it would be really appreciated if you could please be patient with me, & let me complete my replies, before posting further questions, otherwise we'll be going round in circles.
Thanks.
Firstly, the Business really wanted to do VLV again this year.
It is a good brand for the Business, raises our profile, generates a lot of traffic & interest via Satellites, & creates enormous Community interest & fun. It is also a bit special to be able to take a little Team to Vegas each year to live the dream.
So they really wanted to do it, & did everything possible to get it sorted.
The complications had nothing whatsoever to do with booking flights or hotels, that is easy.
The problem this year arose specifically around the fully-compliant transmission of the cash to the cage at The Rio.
The two parties - SB&G (Sky Betting & Gaming), & CE (Caesars Entertainment, who own The WSOP brand & The Rio), had conflicting arrangements as to payment for services, & it was not possible to resolve these in time. It was most certainly not for want of trying.
These days due to Online Gaming matters in the USA, of which you will be aware, it is really quite complex for European facing businesses to arrange transfers of large sums of cash to Corporations based in Las Vegas in a legally compliant manner.
All this was around the turn of the year, & early 2013. Eventually, as I have reported on this Community twice previously, the problem landed on my desk to sort.
Did I want to sort it? You bet!
For me, VLV is almost the highlight of my year, I absolutely love it to bits. I rail all the VLV Finals on Sky Poker, run the VLV Thread, speak with the VLV winners on the Monday morning, write to them with Updates, meet them all at the Airport, look after them, & generally act as water carrier & bottle washer. Then I do the Blogs & Live Updates, & interacting with everyone at home, from Vegas, is as much fun as it gets.
And so, once the problem dropped on my desk, I tried my best to resolve it, if for no other reason that I really wanted us to do VLV this year. That, I hope, is obvious.
My best efforts failed, we could not resolve the problems, and all of us were very sad about that.
I shall be in Vegas myself (more of which later) & whilst there I've been tasked with meeting the CE Execs face to face & resolving the payment transmission issues, so that Sky Poker can resume VLV in 2014. I am not one who intentionally makes promises I can't keep, but I'm very confident indeed that I can get it sorted, & that VLV will resume, with all the attendant fun, in 2014.
So there it is. We tried, it was then passed to me, & I tried, but it proved impossible eventually, which is a real shame. It was in the interest of the Business, & myself, to sort it, I hope you can see that.
The present position, as referenced in the official statement at the top of this board, is that Sky Poker are still trying to at least do something Community & Site-based for this year’s WSOP. Whether it will happen or not, remains to be seen.
I know the rough outline of the plans, but not the fine detail, & I’d rather leave it at that for the moment, until the position becomes clearer. We very much hope it happens, & it has already been cleared by the Legal advisors. Now the nuts & bolts need finalising. We hope this can be announced very shortly.
Completely separate to that, there are some plans which have been finalised, these were agreed a few weeks ago, in early May. Sky Poker will be sending a cameraman, & myself, to Las Vegas for the duration of the Main Event.
We’ll be specifically following the Main Event, & concentrating on the “big names”, as well as Brits, and of course on any Sky Poker players who are in Vegas to play the Main Event. I know of at least 6 Sky Poker regular players who will be doing so.
We’ll get numerous filmed interviews, available in almost real time here in the UK, these will be every day, & hopefully plenty of them. Dan the Producer arrives a few days before the Main Event commences, & we’ll shoot some footage in & around Vegas, then base ourselves at The Rio for the Main Event, from Day 1a, until just after the Cash Bubble bursts.
Personal footnote - I shall be heading out there in mid-June to play some poker for a few weeks before Dan arrives & “work” starts, I’ve barely played Live in the last 12 months, so I’m going to play a mixture of Events around Town.
This is not a business trip, but I’ll try & do Daily Blogs from the day I arrive, as I do every year, & I’ll do phone-ins to the Show.
Completely unrelated to Sky Poker, but it is possible I may play the Main Event, too, as a bunch of friends elsewhere have voluntarily offered to stake me. I never asked them, it just sort of got suggested by someone, & that set the ball rolling. That is currently in the balance, I have my fingers crossed, it is a 50/50 shot really, depending on various details. Nothing to do with the matter in hand really, but I wanted to mention it for the sake of completeness.
Next up, I’ll reply to the specific questions on this thread.
I was not around this morning, if I had have been, I like to think I would have explained it immediately, & as openly as I'm able.
No, not really.
I have my own, personal views on how best to communicate with Clients, & how a Community best works, but they sometimes conflict with how the Business thinks & works. I'm certainly not suggesting they are wrong, but we just see things from different angles.
There are always good reasons though. In truth, I don't know what they are, & I've no reason to ask.
When I got Online & saw both threads, I contacted the Office in Leeds & asked permission to reply to it, which was readily granted. So I did.
There have been numerous commuunity threads about VLV, & I think I replied, or commented, on the majority of them.
Fingers crossed, if we can resolve the problems, VLV will resume next year, & there may yet be something this year, too.
The position is exactly as I have explained it, & there are no plans for any form of "Team Sky Poker" to be present.
Plans for the next Team Sky Poker adventure are currently well advanced, it will be similar, with variations, to the one we ran recently.
As long as it remains compliant, the Thread will remain open. If it gets out of hand as to abuse & flaming, it will be up to the Mods to deal with it as they see fit.
Hopefully, we can all keep it civil, & if so, it will remain open.
PS - Well done on Sunday, &, to a lesser degree, last night!