On Wearing PartyPoker Garb
If you qualify for the WSOP through an online poker site they, obviously, want you to wear stuff with their name on it so they get some free advertising. Whether or not they can force you to is an interesting question. PokerStars has worked around this problem nicely: when you qualify, you can either opt not to wear their stuff, or you can formally agree to wear it, and if you choose the latter they'll give you your hotel room free.
PartyPoker, unsurprisingly, has a vaguer, more frustrating solution to the problem. A section on their website begins:
"Disclaimer: Qualifiers will also be given exclusive PartyPoker.com merchandise. You should wear this whenever you compete in the WSOP Tournament."
Notice a couple things about this: first, it's not a disclaimer (indeed, it's the exact opposite); also, unless there's something in the overall PartyPoker Terms and Conditions I agreed to by playing on the site in the first place, it doesn't even come close to being an enforcable contract. (Trust me; I took Computers and the Law.)
PartyPoker seems to recognize this. An email they sent includes this offer:
"You are encouraged to wear your exclusive PartyPoker merchandise at the World Series of Poker. If you win the main event and have been wearing your official PartyPoker clothing throughout, we will pay you $2 MILLION!"
Now we're talking. My body is valuable advertising space, especially given that I'm a consensus Matt Damon* look-alike, and I wasn't about to just give it away. $2M is a ton of money, but this is still a tough decision. The EV of this offer is ($2M)*P(I win), or $2M * 1/4000 or so, or about $500. Remember, though, that if I win, I'll be promoting myself like crazy anyway, and not having worn PartyPoker stuff on TV might enhance my ability to get other endorsements.
Also, I simply prefer not wearing the stuff. I have a nice comfortable fisherman's hat that I plan on wearing (I want to hide my eyes a little, but I definitely will not wear sunglasses.) I also have several comfortable and stylish shirts lined up. Furthermore, I don't know how wearing PartyPoker stuff would affect my table image. (Plausible arguments can be made both ways.)
So please, people, give me some advice. I'm modeling the hat and one of the stylish shirts in the picture below.
(By the way, my parents are now reading this blog, so if a comment claims to be from my mom, it is likely to actually be my mom. As such, please do not immediately assume it's Ilan playing a joke and proceed to curse her out.)
--Nate
*Some of you think I'm more a John Elway look-alike; the point still holds, even if Elway isn't such a flattering comparison.
posted by Nate @ 8:55 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Ultimately, whatever you can get out of your physical appearance by dressing in a manner that develops a particular image is probably worth less +EV than simply making sure you are physically comfortable at the table. Since you'll need to play something like 40 hours of poker before you're even on the bubble, i would opt for whatever garb keeps you the temp you like and doesn't give you a wedgie, even after 9 hours in the same straight-backed chair. I assume the Rio, like all poker rooms, is colder than normal room temp, but i'm sure you'll scout that out. If you really want to give off a "pro" aura, shouldn't you get a members-only (or similar)jacket to wear at the tabe. I think Ariel has tried this line of intimidation several times at Trumbull.
One question for Nate: do you know what table number you are at yet?(i.e. is it one that is bound to break early or is it one that will likely be intact all day). I saw Negraneu bitching about how buying into all the events early usually puts you at an intact-all-day table but this year it has put him at a breaks-early table in every event, which he doesn't like for obvious reasons.
Yeah, I agree totally. I've maintained that I'm not trying to cultivate a certain image, and certainly trying to make PartyPoker garb fit a fishy image I'm trying to project is not worth the effort and disruption it would take.
I don't know what table I'm at yet. Adjusting to new table conditions and improving my reads over time are both things I count as strengths, so whether or not my table gets broken fast, I'm not worried.
Yeah, unless something changes I'm going garbless, I think.
--Nate
I will pay Nate $2M if he wins the main event wearing Delino merchandise
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