On Thursday, the Tournament Directors Association, led by the esteemed Matt Savage (pictured), announced that the next TDA Summit will take place from June 16 to 17 at the Venetianin Las Vegas. Savage added, “Registration details to follow shortly. Send your local TD please.” Savage told PocketFives that he was not the one who negotiated the deal with Venetian, but rather just made the announcement.

As you’d expect, the announcement led to an uproar from the poker community, as the Venetian is owned by the Sheldon Adelson-led Las Vegas Sands Corporation. Adelson has promised to spend “whatever it takes” to rid the US of online poker and internet gambling, including in the three states where it’s already legal.

Savage made his announcement one day removed from a sham of a House Subcommittee hearingto discuss the merits of Restoring America’s Wire Act, which Adelson brought to the table. The bill bans internet gambling and the hearing was chock-full of fear-mongering. It lacked any substantive discussion on the issue and only one witness – Parry Aftab – was familiar with the technological and regulatory issues that should have been the center of debate.

So why on Earth would the TDA hold a summit at Venetian knowing the backlash it would likely receive? Savage told PocketFives on Thursday, “Venetian Tournament Director stepped up and offered a ballroom, free A/V, and a hotel room rate TBD. No one else offered a thing, but now maybe?”

One person close to the situation described it as the Venetian sponsoring the TDA summit with no financial outlay by TDA. Venetian said it would also take care of water and coffee as well as host a tournament for the attendees.

Global Poker Index’s Alex Dreyfus (pictured) quickly stepped up to the plate on Twitter, offering to front the full cost of the conference room, A/V, and accommodation if the summit were held at another venue, a cost that could approach $20,000. As he put it, “I don’t understand why TDA board host this event at Venetian now that Kathy [Raymond] is away. Makes no sense.”

One person on Twitter equated it to an AA meeting being held at a bar.

2013 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Ryan Riess even chimed in, saying on Twitter, “Host it at my house instead.” Fellow poker pro JC Tran cautioned the crowd, “Be easy on Matt, guys. There are other Board members. Harrah’s property should take charge. They do own WSOP.com.”

For the last word on this topic, PocketFives went to Poker Players AllianceExecutive Director John Pappas, who told us, “Las Vegas is home to many wonderful casinos and resort properties. It is a shame that the TDA selected to host their event at the epicenter of opposing players’ rights. Ultimately, it is their decision, but it has not proven popular with the player community.”

The last TDA summit was held in 2013, also at Venetian. The property donated the cost of the conference two years ago as well. The TDA tries to keep the cost of its summits as low as possible in order to encourage as many TDs to attend as possible without having to pay a registration fee. Its Board includes Savage, Jack Effel, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, Tab Duchateau, Neil Johnson, Dave Lamb, and Mike Bishop.

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