[*TT*]

[ QUOTE ]
I checked out the expo, it was a far cry from the last few years. Probably about 1/2 the clients most of which were poker themed energy drinks which tasted like crap

[/ QUOTE ]

My booth was E-Boost. Its not poker themed but we are trying to keep poker players healthy while they play at the Main Event. Our competitors are Emergen-C and Airborn, its night and day from stuff like All In, Poker Pro, and Whose Your Daddy energy drinks (All In was the healthiest of the three, but its still not the best option available to players who want to avoid illness and gain a boost of energy that won't make them crash).

The poker themed energy drink market is a bit silly, how many times can an industry recreate the red bull energy boost followed by an energy crash? I talked to Brad Booth about his product Poker Water, at least they realize the poker market is niche and isn't their main focus; Brad intends to take his product into other more mainstream markets - good call! I liked Brad, he seems to have his head on straight and understands what it really takes to make his brand sucessful.

Sorry for the tangent - back on track... I agree the expo blew. They made some serious mistakes, for example the crowd could walk through the hallways the first 1 1/2 days so many people never even saw the expo. The strippers turned many people off, and because the head of expo sales (Sharon) didnt really know the poker market she didnt think of chasing after companies that cater to the poker market. Poker Tracker, Deuces Cracked, Stox all should have been there (Taylor Caby was smart to set up a booth!). The main stream brands we all know had poor communication at their booth such as Shuffle Master, Copaig, etc. The Harrah's casinos didn't do much to encourage participation at their respective tournaments (but CEO Poker Tour was there - shady!) and WSOP didn't even have a booth to brand the WSOP Europe tour.