Image Problem Haunts Harrah’s
17th of November 2005
The World Series of Poker’s Tournament of Champions, won by Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, was a qualifier, meaning to get to participate you had to be in the top five of a final table in specific events during the 2005 WSOP season. Last year it was an invitational, so players were excited about the change; plus it was a free roll, so players did not have to buy their way in.
Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson were invited to play; but this wasn’t supposed to be an invitational. ESPN.com wrote that it seemed Pepsi had stepped up with $2 million to sponsor the event, and these there were important to their marketing.
Jeffery Pollack called the ESPN writer to explain; "First of all, if there was poor communication around the fact that there could be and would be sponsor exemptions, I take full responsibility for it and apologize to the players for it. That's the first thing.” Pollack, who is the VP of Sports and Entertainment for Harrah’s, went on to explain his second point, saying that sponsorship exemptions, which resulted in the invitations being sent out, are a perfectly legal and ethical thing, and that the whole problem comes from it not being communicated up front.
