Mitch Garber
It may have come to your attention that Mitch Garber, former Chief Executive of Partygaming, has now joined Harrah's Casino, as CEO of Harrah's Interactive Entertainment. Garber has been particularly vocal about his role, noting just a few weeks ago that he believed he could establish Harrah's as a " leading global operator." Suggesting that Harrah's will, in the future, become a huge online casino brand.
Well, as I'm sure you're aware, the UIGEA has effectively put a stopper on Garber's plans for online world (or at least US) domination. However, Harrah's have now set him to work on improving and expanding the World Series of Poker (WSOP) brand.
With the current WSOP tourneys drawing to a close, now seems a good a time as any to assess the effect of Garber's involvement in the poker industry. No one can accuse Garber of slacking off, in fact, I reckon he's been putting in over time, creating PR spins out of nowhere in an attempt to drive home just how huge the WSOP brand is.
Over the past few weeks we've seen the likes of congressman Barney Frank turning up and discussing the possibilities of legalising online poker, and even professional players have been drafted in to help fuel the spin-machine. Last week, Richard Sklar, who has a Bluff Poker Magazine rating of just 3,839th, apparently propositioned Obama at Caesars Palace and asked him to take a seat at WSOP.
However, as we reported, there's no recorded visits of Barack Obama at Caesar's Palace on the dates suggested by recent news reports about the meeting between him and Sklar. Barack Obama did visit Caesars Palace on May the 29th, for a fundraising event, which begs the question; why did Sklar's request of President Obama only make poker headlines last week?
Well, while we don't doubt the creditionals of Sklar's story, it would seem that Garber and his team of PR gurus realised that even if there was a slight chance Barack Obama turned up to WSOP, it would instantly boost the brand. After all, if Barack Obama believes in WSOP, why don't you?
Now that the 40th Annual World Series of Poker is drawing to a close, it'll be interesting to see whether Garber continues promoting WSOP as heavily as he has done now. If he continues, it'll be clear to see that the recent PR stunts (not including Hellmuth's recent entry dressed as Caesar - that's barely a stunt anymore) weren't just about promoting the poker event, but also about promoting the possiblities of an online WSOP brand.
