Jesse Jones is one of the real class acts of the poker world. His smiling face shines brightly in any room. His presence has been notable at past World Series of Poker events. When he hangs up the phone, instead of saying “goodbye,’ it’s “aloha” for the Hawaiian native. Jones founded the World Poker Association, whose mission, according to its website, is “to promote professionalism in poker worldwide and support the highest standards of ethical conduct in tournament poker activities.” To Jones, the goal of the WPA is to create an organization similar to the PGA: “One thing that’s sorely lacking in the industry is a set of standards. When we first started holding tournaments, it wasn’t serious issue. Now, with online and television coverage, it’s developing into a worldwide industry and a worldwide sport. What we have are standards that are different for every event played. I think there needs to be some set of standards for major tournaments.”
Jones notes the difficulties for players to go from tournament to tournament not knowing what to expect: “You can go from one WPT event to another and end up playing by different rules in different venues. Speaking as a player, when you have to go in and identify the differences in tournament rules, you have to change what strategy you’re going to follow. It’s not a level playing field when players have to keep making adjustments from venue to venue. At events like the World Series, an infraction will happen that’s considered a penalty by one person and, a couple of hours later, the same thing occurs and it’s not an infraction. You never know what the rulings are going to be. Imagine a PGA golfer going from golf course to golf course and tournament to tournament having to play by different rules. They would never put up with it.”
If you look around right now, the number of major events is steadily growing. Besides the WSOP, the World Poker Tour, Heartland Poker Tour, Professional Poker Tour, and a handful of other outlets regularly put on events. The WPA has been in extensive contact with the WSOP and has manned a booth at the event for the past two years. To Jones, the relationship is beneficial: “There have always been good relations between the WPA and WSOP. Last year, the booth was donated to us by Harrah’s at no charge. They do have a Players’ Advisory Council, but they haven’t been willing to sit down with us to address the rules in part because we haven’t presented our rules to them, either.” To sum it up, Jones notes, “We have a lot of competing, profit-making venues looking out for what’s best for them and not necessarily what’s best for the players.”
Eolis has been an advisor to two big guns in the political world, former New York City Major and presidential hopeful Rudy Guiliani and former Governor of New York George Pataki. Her political prowess should help catapult the WPA into the limelight: “The Board of Directors determined she would be well-suited. Her background is such that she’s been involved in her own consulting business for many years. She’s involved in the political arena because of her consulting business.” Eolis is a member of the WSOP’s advisory council and is the Chairman of the International Players’ Advisory Council. Other WPA Board members include Joe Hachem, Harry Thomas Jr., Lou Krieger, and Paul Wasicka. Their star-studded power rivals that of any major industry organization.
With regards to the turmoil that has rocked the online poker world in the last 18 months, the WPA sits, like the rest of us, with a watchful eye. Jones comments: “We certainly support legalizing poker in the U.S. and everywhere in the world. The key difference is that our mission is broader than the mission of organizations like the Poker Players Alliance. Our aim is to have poker recognized as a sport with standards and ethics. As a non-profit, we have certain limitations on our lobbying efforts that restrain us, but we support what the PPA is doing. We expect that poker will eventually be legal again in the U.S. and, when it is, online companies doing business in the U.S. will support us. Until the UIGEA wall gets repealed or replaced, it’s difficult for the WPA to get too active.”
The WPA currently sits at 1,400 members strong, a number Jones hopes to push to 2,500 by the end of the year. Much of the membership drive occurs in the halls of the Rio at the WSOP, so be sure to stop by the organization’s booth to learn more or sign yourself up. Also, be sure to visit the WPA’s website at www.wpapoker.org.
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