How long is Jack Binion's non-compete clause with Harrah's?

[olivert]

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Your line of inquiry isn't unreasonable, but considering that it's hard to distinguish between reporters and gossip columnists in the world of real journalism, I doubt Oliver feels the need to define his role within the new realm of poker pseudo-journalism. That said, I'd guess that Oliver sees himself as neither journalist nor gossip columnist (hey Oliver, what do you do for a living, anyway--just curious?), but more like something of a gadfly and a baromoter.

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I have owned my own small internet-based marketing business soccerTV.com, serving the pay-per-view soccer television market in the US and Canada, since 1995. That project has allowed me to go from someone who had no clue what the entertainment industry was like to learning just enough about the entertainment business to get me into plenty of trouble.

I started getting sidetracked by poker about 3 months into my Masters Degree program in Financial Engineering at the U.C. Berkeley Haas School of business. After I finished my degree in March 2004, I started diving deeper into the poker world.

Given how rapidly the poker industry has evolved over the past 4 years, I have had to change roles in order to keep up.

I went from a recreational player (July 2003-July 2004); to a part-time tournament reporter and recreational player (August 2004-September 2005); to part-time poker business writer who was somewhere between rec player and semi-pro player (November 2005-August 2006); to my latest status as a part-time poker business writer, unofficial consultant, and soon-to-be ex-player, all within a span of 3 years, as I have to adjust and reposition myself for new opportunities in a rapidly-changing industry.

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My exchanges with WPTE CEO Steve Lipscomb and CFO Todd Steele at the ThinkEquity Partners Growth Conference in San Francisco on September 12 was cordial, without any animosity.

(For the record, CardPlayer didn't send anyone to the conference and CardPlayer declined my offer to write a freelance article on the "WPTE is regrouping to make a 'China Play'" story. I believe I may have been the only "poker writer" to be at the conference, which allowed me to connect with both the gaming equity analyst and the China strategist at boutique investment bank ThinkEquity Partners regarding a number of issues besides WPTE, as well as attending other presentations besides WPTE. Seeing a dozen or so Hedge Fund guys at the conference attending many of the same sessions I did tells me that they are curious as well as to how this industry will play out.)

I did ask Mr. Lipscomb whether he had started learning Cantonese. His "...Yes I have..." reply told me everything I needed to know about where the poker industry is headed, and what I should be doing to prepare for the day the first big buy-in televised no limit texas hold'em tournament to be played in Macau will take place in 18-24 months.

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If you are tempted to go to Macau 18-24 months from now, I do suggest that you learn some Cantonese. You will need it. 90% of the cabbies in Macau don't speak English.