So the days keep ticking by — May 24, June 1, June 7 … and still no word on the future of the World Poker Tour. The best guess is that the WPT is still trying to renegotiate something with GSN. It\’s all a shame, really, not just because once upon a time the WPT did so much for poker, but also because this current season — #6 — is proving to be one of their finest in years. Seriously, have you watched any episodes this season? They\’re really good. Loved the set for Turks and Caicos, and the action and commentary on all the other episodes has been significantly better than in previous seasons.
But it may be too little too late according to insider gossip and semi-substantiated rumors. The first piece of evidence we have, of course, is the stock price (WPTE), which is continuously descending beyond its all-time low. $1.16/share=not good.
Now let\’s go back to non-poker Christmastime … when the WPT supposedly held some sort of employee-appreciation pizza party, and CEO Steve Lipscomb reportedly told his people that things were not looking good for the WPT — specifically that he wasn\’t sure if they\’d make it to the end of 2008, and that they might-wanna start looking for other work. Yikes. This information is secondhand rumor from two or more reliable sources, at least one of whom may or may not still be working for the WPT.
CORRECTION: Have crossed out some possibly erroneous info above. Supposedly what Lipscomb really told his people was that 2008 was going to be a \”very rough year\” … and some in attendance drew those conclusions simply on their knowledge of what it takes to nurse a super-short stack until better cards/times arrive.
Crap, there goes my whole premise for this post.
Furthering suspicions, a California headhunter says her office was flooded with resumes from managerial and executive-level employees of the WPT in January of this year. 17+ is the number we\’re hearing.
So there you have it — rampant speculation deduced from public information combined with whispers on a semi-informed street suggesting that whatever does or doesn\’t happen with GSN, it may be a last-ditch effort to save the show a struggling business. Read into it whatever you must, and in the meantime we\’ll keep checking Steve Lipscomb\’s blog for an update but won\’t expect much …
(Have a look at his fifth most recent comment, from yours truly, left in January \’07. Still waiting for a response …)
