If I was making decisions on tournament poker

One thing I’ve always noticed in covering the events that take place in the world of poker is the countless number of poker tournaments that are constantly taking place around the globe. It’s been my opinion for quite some time that these competing poker tours are bad for the game.  Now, I’m not referring to local events, or even tours like the PokerStars UKIPT that are basically regional, the issue I have is with tournament series like the European Poker Tour, the World Poker Tour, and the World Series of Poker Circuit Series, to name but a few.

I separate poker tournaments into three categories (maybe four now that tours like the Epic Poker League and other high-buy-in events have been on the rise):

• Smaller, local tournaments with buy-ins usually under $1,000

These are the local and regional tournaments I spoke of above.

• Mid-range tournaments with buy-ins between $1,000 and $3,500

These tournaments tend to have a diverse makeup with local amateurs, tournament grinders, and a sprinkling of big name poker players entering.

• Championship tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $5,000 to $10,000

Generally reserved for tournament professionals and qualifiers from local casinos and online poker rooms, these tournaments are the “professional” circuit in poker.

A quick look at the mid-range tournaments shows numerous tournament series dueling for players: You have the PokerStars tours like the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) and the Australian New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT); US poker tours such as the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT), the World Series of Poker Circuit Series (WSOPC), and other upstart tournaments like the Native American Casino Poker Tour (NACPT); even the World Poker Tour (WPT) and European Poker Tour (EPT) host tournaments in this buy-in range.

Honestly, these tournaments are completely unnecessary. Players can easily participate in local tournaments (some of which could see a slight increase in buy-in amounts to make up the difference) and avoid the immense cost of travel and accommodations. Why have casinos and card-rooms decided to sub-contract out the advertising for the tournaments they host to these companies? Couldn’t these casinos simply host their own events since 90% of the player-pool is going to be local anyway?

After Black Friday the poker economy has taken a tremendous hit, and players just don’t have the type of disposable income they did even two years ago (you can evidence of this in the diminishing attendance at many events). If these poker tournament series cannot localize themselves, like the Italian Poker Tour (IPT), or the Grosvenor United Kingdom Poker Tour (GUKPT) or the aforementioned UKIPT, they are doing the poker community a disservice.

The Heartland Poker Tour hosts tournaments not just in the Heartland, but all across the US, there is no possible way players can participate in more than a couple of these events each year without turning pro and travelling the country! Why doesn’t the HPT stick to the Heartland of America? Why doesn’t the World Series of Poker Circuit Series stick to Nevada and California? Other than professional tournament players who don’t quite have the bankroll to constantly be playing WPT and EPT tournaments, the average poker player simply cannot follow these tours around the country.

By localizing these mid-range buy-in events, you allow players to play in more events with less overhead. The “pros” could still travel to the tournaments of their choosing, and you could even sprinkle in the occasional WPT and EPT tournament, or independent tournament like the Irish Poker Open or the Foxwoods Deepstacks events.