WPTE changes CFO

[olivert]

http://biz.yahoo.com/e/060925/wpte8-k.html

I had met both (soon to be former) CFO Todd Steele and Controller/CFO-designate Scott Friedman very briefly only two weeks ago when they were with Mr. Lipscomb in San Francisco at the ThinkEquity Growth Conference.

Todd Steele is joining a "private equity" firm, which means he could be joining either a "venture capital" firm, or a "leveraged buyout" firm, or a firm that does a combination of the two among other things.

[jbrent33]

How will this move affect the emerging Chinese market?

[wisehandpoker]

Oliver, I'm a fan of your work. Ignore the haters and keep it up.

[DesertCat]

[ QUOTE ]
Oliver, I'm a fan of your work. Ignore the haters and keep it up.

[/ QUOTE ]

here, here. I enjoy your posts even if I occasionally choose to debate your opinions on China.

[MagCFO]

They need to do something. If you lose $5mil a year during the poker boom, you're doing a terrible job.

How in the hell do you lose money right now, that's what I want to know.

Personally, I hope ESPN buys WPTE or they go out of business. That's what poker really needs to happen.

WPTE is locked into a terrible TV deal until 2009 or 2010. Whoever made that deal should be fired, and I'm sure the CFO was right in the middle of it.

/rant

[MagCFO]

[ QUOTE ]
They need to do something. If you lose $5mil a year during the poker boom, you're doing a terrible job.

How in the hell do you lose money right now, that's what I want to know.

Personally, I hope ESPN buys WPTE or they go out of business. That's what poker really needs to happen.

WPTE is locked into a terrible TV deal until 2009 or 2010. Whoever made that deal should be fired, and I'm sure the CFO was right in the middle of it.

/rant

[/ QUOTE ]

Further rant...

You're the only game in town, and this is your financial results....

http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor...px?Symbol=WPTE

That's solid.

Please, let someone else who knows what they are doing to a shot at this. Unfortunitely, contracts signed with all the good casinos keep this from happening (thus, a buyout or bankruptcy is needed).

Would you invest in a company that is losing money in the poker business right now? Hell no.

gg WPTE.

[olivert]

[ QUOTE ]

WPTE is locked into a terrible TV deal until 2009 or 2010. Whoever made that deal should be fired, and I'm sure the CFO was right in the middle of it.


[/ QUOTE ]

What are you talking about?

WPTE's legacy deal with The Travel Channel, signed in 2004 (which might as well have been 1004 the way the TV poker industry has evolved) is a MUCH BETTER deal, in terms of the amount of up front CASH, than the one Harrah's just signed with ESPN.

WPTE gets $10 million in CASH from The Travel Channel.

Harrah's received $0 in CASH from ESPN for the WSOP in 2006-2010. That's right. ESPN got video rights to the WSOP Main Event, the "World Championship" of tournament poker, for $0 in CASH.