WTF - Party Poker at the State Fair

[RGL]

Wanted to share a weird event today with the Forum. Made a trip to the Texas State Fair today with my lovely lady. On the Midway, there was a huge Party Poker tent. In what follows, I felt like I'd entered a Hall of Mirrors by mistake.

The sign said "The World's Finest Poker School." Others said you had to be 18 to register.

Inside, they were signing people up and registering them online on the PP.net site using notebooks (giving away a stinking hat with the registration!). They also had two live tables going with dealers and chips (free chips).

There were 5 young adult employees there and 2 older dealers and a barker calling people in from behind the counter.

I noticed the barker leave his station and walk over to a better dressed man sitting at a unused table and have a short conversation. I then went over to talk with him quietly.

I said "Excuse me, are you with Party." He turned his head to me fast, looked a little startled, and said "No one here is from Party. We're not traveling in the U.S." Then there was a silence for a few beats. The "we're" seemed like possible slip that we both recognized.

I wanted to see if I could get info without being challenging or threatening. I said I was a VIP player, and was pissed that Americans were not allowed anymore. He made a few remarks about the legislation and the politicians. I agreed with him. Then I asked if there were any plans to perhaps reopen to Americans on down the line. He said no.

We talked a bit further, getting a little more in sympatico, then he said that the past cash from the site had enabled the company to buy/get into/explore a number of other things, and to make some investments. He then said there had been some discussion of creating a precious metals fund that players could buy into, and then use their fund account to play. Then he looked at me and said "Nothing definite. We'll just have to see what develops."

I thanked him and left.

They have been operating on the grounds with a big presence, and paying salaries, since the beginning of the Fair in late September. You'd think that when the legislation passed and they announced they were going to ban on signing, and certainly on signing and actual banning, they'd have folded there tent (literally), cut their loses, lowered their profile and moved on. Instead, they were still signing up people to the .net site agressively, and acting like it was business as usual to the public. No effort to build support, no acknowledgement of the legislation to the public.