Wow, televised high stakes and celebrity poker tournaments are the rage! This is good news for Dennis Rodman. It keeps him on TV at a point when Larry King is unlikely to invite him back on CNN. My very own webmaster confesses to being hooked on this latest craze involving the crazier side of the Las Vegas lifestyle. If you love poker (or happen to be stuck with someone who does) you know that the ultimate event in this formerly underground world (there was a reason for that) is the World Series of Poker. Harrah’s Entertainment Corporation owns the World Series event and they take this very seriously. How seriously? Harrah’s has just hired Pilson Communications to re-negotiate their agreement with ESPN (is poker a sport now?) for television rights to this earth shattering global event. Pilson who? Neal Pilson was the boss at CBS Sports for 20 years and his current roster of clients includes NASCAR and Major League Baseball. This guy is a heavy hitter and doesn’t come cheap. Believe me, televised poker has arrived. This summer marks the 36th time the World Series has been held. Harrah’s is expecting over 5000 entrants this year, which is almost double the previous player record. ESPN did 22 hours of broadcasts last year for the tournament and plans to do as much or more (thank god) this year. With over 50 million dollars in total prize money up for grabs, it should be the biggest year ever for the World Series of Poker.

This entry was posted by Michelle Sterling on Wednesday, January 19th, 2005 at 9:49 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.