This year I had the privilege to vote for the Bluff Magazine Power 20 in poker, so I thought I’d offer up my thoughts on the entire process and on my selections.
What’s interesting about the process is how hands off Bluff is when it comes to guiding the voter’s selections. The instructions we received were (I’m paraphrasing here), “vote for the 20 most powerful in poker in order from #1 to #20 (from a positive perspective) based on how you define powerful.” So basically it’s at the voter’s discretion.
Where one voter may read “powerful” as the ability to market the game to new players, another may see it as the guy who develops new software for a site as a powerful person in poker, and another may see the CEO of some company as a powerful person. One voter may put an emphasis on US iGaming where another may focus on players, which I think makes for an intriguing list of nominees.
My Ballot
I tried to include people from the many different branches of the poker world, players, media, regulators, advocates, executives, and casino/tournament/poker tour staff. My list isn’t exactly the 20 most powerful people in order; it’s more a union of people with power, notoriety, influence, and good intentions.
The definition I used for powerful was fairly broad. I felt a “powerful” person could be one or more of the following:
- A strong voice for poker and/or for advancing the game
- Have influence in the poker community
- In a position of power/decision maker
- An indispensable person –would this person’s absence create a void?
Here was the list I came up with:
- Norbert Teufelberger CEO bwin.party
- Mitch Garber CEO of CIE
- David Rebuck Director NJ DGE
- Keith Smith CEO Boyd Gaming
- Geoff Freeman CEO of the AGA
- Raymond Lesniak NJ State Senator
- Mark Scheinberg CEO of PokerStars
- Daniel Negreanu pro poker player
- John Pappas Executive Director of the PPA
- Joe Barton US Congressman (R-TX)
- Richard Schuetz Director California Gambling Control Commission
- AG Burnett Director Nevada Gaming Control Board
- Tom Breitling Chairman Ultimate Gaming
- Alexandre Dreyfus CEO/Owner GlobalPokerIndex & HendonMob
- Vanessa Selbst pro poker player
- Chris Grove OnlinePokerReport.com
- Matt Savage tournament director
- Nolan Dalla jack of all trades
- Rich Muny Vice President Player Relations for the PPA
- Matt Glantz poker pro
My notable omissions
Ty Stewart – I left Ty off not because I don’t think he does a great job at the WSOP, but to me it seems like any half competent person running the WSOP would do a good job –perhaps not quite as good, but the drop-off wouldn’t be drastic. You’ll notice I also left off the heads of the EPT and WPT.
Jeffrey Haas – I left Jeffrey Haas off my list for one reason… I forgot him. Sorry, huge mistake on my part.
Brian Mattingley – here is another guy I kind of zoned on. As Rick Perry would say, “Whoops.”
Brian Balsbaugh – I don’t know how powerful Balsbaugh is in the 2014 poker world, considering sponsorships are starting to land on the endangered species list. I feel as if he’s important for the professional poker community, but not overly powerful in a broader sense.
Why I selected certain people
Keith Smith – not only is Smith the CEO of Boyd Gaming (read as: Borgata) but he has been at the forefront of the debate that online gambling does not cannibalize live gambling. I was very surprised he didn’t make the list.
Joe Barton – He may not be pushing for a bill as hard as he was in recent years, but Barton’s handling of Andy Abboud at the congressional hearing was incredibly important and literally forced Adelson and CSIG to take a near month-long hiatus from their crusade. If Abboud was allowed to run roughshod during that hearing I shudder to think the headlines we would have seen in the aftermath.
Richard Schuetz – Here is another guy who has been doing his part in advocating for online gambling expansion, and as the head of the California Gaming Commission his words carry a lot of weight.
Alexandre Dreyfus – Personally I love what Dreyfus is doing with the GPI and The Hendon Mob. I think the GPI appearing in the USA Today is an overlooked aspect of the mini-poker-empire Dreyfus has created and how he is moving poker into a more mainstream and acceptable place. Down the road I can see the GPI/Hendon usurping the Bluff’s and PokerNews’s as the preeminent tournament reporting site. There is more going on at the GPI than people realize.
Vanessa Selbst – Selbst is the face of female poker; she’s one of the best tournament players, if not the best; she’s one of the faces of PokerStars; she’s active in the poker community; she has an impeccable reputation; she’s extremely intelligent and well spoken; and she’s an advocate for women’s and LGBT causes. Other than Negreanu this is the first poker player I would want repping my brand.
Chris Grove – If you can point me towards a more influential site covering US iGaming than OnlinePokerReport.com I’d like to see it. Chris and OPR (along with several other individuals and sites) are turning poker reporting into poker journalism… something I once said was an impossibility.
Nolan Dalla – I was torn between choosing Nolan or Kevin Mathers (I also considered Mike Sexton as well) on this selection but in the end I went with Nolan as he is a bit more accessible and more outgoing than the more online-centric KevMath. Nolan’s role at the WSOP is a somewhat overlooked position, and his ability to look at poker pre- and post-Boom shouldn’t be overlooked. Some of his poker-themed blog posts over the past year have been eye-openers for a lot of people. For me, Nolan is just one of the people in poker that “gets it,” someone that can step back and look at the poker world with objectivity.
Rich Muny – If John Pappas makes the list I don’t see how you can leave Rich off. Rich is the voice of the PPA and is a driving force behind getting the group’s message out both on social media as well as on podcasts and forums.
Matt Glantz – I wanted a third player on my list and I wanted a player who has been working on solving or at least discussing some of poker’s current issues, like reentries, SHR’s, shot clocks, etc. Which led me to Phil Galfond and Matt Glantz; in the end I went with Glantz.
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