In an unusual move that occurred just a few weeks into the 2008 World Series of Poker, a number of members of the World Poker Association Board of Directors resigned. The move followed the promotion of former Chairman and Founder Jesse Jones to Chairman Emeritus in the Spring. Now, Jones has returned to his former role as Chairman and poker pro Blair Rodman is the lone remaining Board member. The World Poker Association aims to develop a set of standards as well as a code of conduct for poker players. The WPA also aims to develop an economic framework for poker players to compete in similar to that of the Professional Golf Association. Let’s take a look at the recent developments.
Jones explains what led to the Board’s resignation: “Elections were held in June, but there were a lot of new Board members that were elected. During the early part of this year, I moved into a Chairman Emeritus position and Wendeen Eolis was elected Chairman by the Board. Most of the activities were being directed by her. I was spending a lot of time in Hawaii and I decided that I’d let someone else run the WPA. We held elections and then had our first educational conference right before the World Series. We had a Board meeting a week later and that was when Wendeen said that she had been approached by political campaigns for consulting.”
Eolis’ background is in political consulting. Given a heated election in the United States between Democratic candidate Barack Obama and Republican candidate John McCain, it was an opportunity that Eolis could not pass up. The Board’s close ties to Eolis prompted many of them to resign, forcing Jones to come out of Emeritus status and once again resume the position of Chairman. While it might seem daunting to have the majority of the Board resign, Jones is not fazed. In fact, he highlighted one area of the WPA that is in dire need of improvement: “We spent a whole year with the past Board and everyone’s heart was in the right place. As far as being able to be effective as a Board, they were lacking in terms of the results that were achieved. One area that was lacking was the attention to our membership. I felt like, when I stepped back in as Chairman, I needed to address the existing membership.” Several levels of membership are now available. Many include voting rights and require a one-time payment.
According to its website, WPAPoker.org, the organization’s goals include “setting uniform rules for tournament competition, creating an internationally recognized Code of Ethics, securing sponsors to add monies to tournament prize pools, advocating improved playing conditions, taking public positions on issues that affect poker players, connecting tournament poker entities with players, and speaking out for legalized, regulated poker, worldwide.” It currently has 1,400 members around the globe. Non-voting Board members include Joe Hachem and Michael Binger, with Blair Rodman serving as the lone remaining voting Board member after the turnover.
At the 2008 World Series of Poker, the WPA was well-represented, setting up camp at a booth adjacent to the Poker Players Alliance headquarters. Jones commented on the reaction received from the WSOP crowd: “Overall, the reaction has been positive. People joined our mailing list to receive our newsletters, but overall, the booth was there to show people what we are and to have a presence. This was the third year in a row that we had a booth and so people know that we’re here to stay. People are looking for stability and that will give them more of an incentive to join the World Poker Association. It’s all about getting your face out there.”
What does the future hold for the WPA? Don’t expect its momentum to slow down: “I’m doing this for the future generations of poker players so that we get treated fairly and properly. We’ve been treated poorly in a lot of live poker tournaments. This is a far cry from where we need to be on a professional level. We should be treated as professional players. I’m working with people to create a WPA Tour to show people what a model tour would look like. I’d invite the top pros to participate.” Jones’ objective is to model the poker industry after the PGA, where players do not pay to enter, but still reap prize money. The PGA holds weekly events with seven-digit prize pools, all funded by sponsors.
Stay tuned for the latest from the World Poker Association. A special thanks to Jesse Jones for his participation in this interview.
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