EPT London - Victoria Coren

[SirKraggen]

She is a very good writer. This piece: This piece contains a few good quotes on male poker players:
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Like Natalie Pinkham, who works for the Poker Channel, I spend a lot of time with gamblers who are not exactly at the forefront of the gender revolution.

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and
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At the poker table in America, men make comments about my breasts approximately four times a day. Sometimes, I thank them with a flirty smile; sometimes, I make an official complaint to the manager.

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[olivert]

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Olivert,
I think the # of sites sponsoring big names is actually decreasing. Full Tilt and Poker Stars are doing a lot more than they used to, but it seems like a number of medium/small sites have stopped. and when they do, it's for a very specific demo.

So I agree that some 22 year old American has basically no value, but I also think deals for attractive players are harder to come by from most sites. The # of bidders seems to have decreased, but I'm not sure.

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The marketing focus of online poker schools have shifted from North America to Europe and "emerging markets".

The European Continent is definitely THE hot spot right now, given that TV poker is peaking in Europe to the point where state-sponsored gaming monopolies in Germany, France, and Italy feel threatened enough to crack down HARD on the likes of bwin.

Given that Europe lags behind the U.S. by two years, I would expect TV ratings in Europe to start declining in 2007 and flatten out by 2008, just in time for the poker industry to be forced to migrate to East Asia, where Macau (China) will be the obvious hub of activity, in order for poker to continue to grow.

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Back to Victoria Coren:

1. Obviously PokerStars will have to put in a bid for her services because PokerStars is the presenting sponsor of the EPT, and because PokerStars is positioning itself to go public on the AIM portion of the London Stock Exchange.

2. I would also expect FullTiltPoker.NET to put in a bid, as TiltWare is also positioning itself to go public in London. TiltWare already sponsors The Hendon Mob and TiltWare just spent a good chunk of marketing money to buy TV time on Sky Sports to present the FullTiltPoker.com Million Dollar Cash Game.

I would be more than surprised if neither PokerStars nor FullTiltPoker were to bid for Coren's services, given that whichever entity that ends up with Coren will be able to use Coren's presentation event/press conference as a "marketing" event.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

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1. Obviously PokerStars will have to put in a bid for her services because PokerStars is the presenting sponsor of the EPT, and because PokerStars is positioning itself to go public on the AIM portion of the London Stock Exchange.

2. I would also expect FullTiltPoker.NET to put in a bid, as TiltWare is also positioning itself to go public in London. TiltWare already sponsors The Hendon Mob and TiltWare just spent a good chunk of marketing money to buy TV time on Sky Sports to present the FullTiltPoker.com Million Dollar Cash Game.

I would be more than surprised if neither PokerStars nor FullTiltPoker were to bid for Coren's services, given that whichever entity that ends up with Coren will be able to use Coren's presentation event/press conference as a "marketing" event.

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are you saying that b/c these companies are going public in London, they will sponsor a British female winner of the EPT? I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense...there maybe valid marketing reasons to sponsor her, but I don't think it relates directly to the IPO values of the respective companies.

[doc_1982]

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Given that Europe lags behind the U.S. by two years, I would expect TV ratings in Europe to start declining in 2007 and flatten out by 2008, just in time for the poker industry to be forced to migrate to East Asia, where Macau (China) will be the obvious hub of activity, in order for poker to continue to grow.


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At what point does somebody start to become a parody of themselves?

[olivert]

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1. Obviously PokerStars will have to put in a bid for her services because PokerStars is the presenting sponsor of the EPT, and because PokerStars is positioning itself to go public on the AIM portion of the London Stock Exchange.

2. I would also expect FullTiltPoker.NET to put in a bid, as TiltWare is also positioning itself to go public in London. TiltWare already sponsors The Hendon Mob and TiltWare just spent a good chunk of marketing money to buy TV time on Sky Sports to present the FullTiltPoker.com Million Dollar Cash Game.

I would be more than surprised if neither PokerStars nor FullTiltPoker were to bid for Coren's services, given that whichever entity that ends up with Coren will be able to use Coren's presentation event/press conference as a "marketing" event.

[/ QUOTE ]

are you saying that b/c these companies are going public in London, they will sponsor a British female winner of the EPT? I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense...there maybe valid marketing reasons to sponsor her, but I don't think it relates directly to the IPO values of the respective companies.

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TiltWare is currently spending big in the UK in order to build the brand recognition of Full Tilt Poker prior to its IPO in London.

If I were Howard Lederer and Victoria Coren's agent were asking TiltWare only USD$1 million a year for 2 years of Coren's services, I would snap her up muy muy pronto. TiltWare will make back the USD$2 million in "marketing expenses" in the UK market alone in less than a year.

[olivert]

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Given that Europe lags behind the U.S. by two years, I would expect TV ratings in Europe to start declining in 2007 and flatten out by 2008, just in time for the poker industry to be forced to migrate to East Asia, where Macau (China) will be the obvious hub of activity, in order for poker to continue to grow.


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At what point does somebody start to become a parody of themselves?

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OK, genius.

You tell me where poker is going to grow after North America, Europe, and the South Pacific all saturate.

[doc_1982]

What does that have to do with what i asked?

[Kneel B4 Zod]

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1. Obviously PokerStars will have to put in a bid for her services because PokerStars is the presenting sponsor of the EPT, and because PokerStars is positioning itself to go public on the AIM portion of the London Stock Exchange.

2. I would also expect FullTiltPoker.NET to put in a bid, as TiltWare is also positioning itself to go public in London. TiltWare already sponsors The Hendon Mob and TiltWare just spent a good chunk of marketing money to buy TV time on Sky Sports to present the FullTiltPoker.com Million Dollar Cash Game.

I would be more than surprised if neither PokerStars nor FullTiltPoker were to bid for Coren's services, given that whichever entity that ends up with Coren will be able to use Coren's presentation event/press conference as a "marketing" event.

[/ QUOTE ]

are you saying that b/c these companies are going public in London, they will sponsor a British female winner of the EPT? I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense...there maybe valid marketing reasons to sponsor her, but I don't think it relates directly to the IPO values of the respective companies.

[/ QUOTE ]

TiltWare is currently spending big in the UK in order to build the brand recognition of Full Tilt Poker prior to its IPO in London.

If I were Howard Lederer and Victoria Coren's agent were asking TiltWare only USD$1 million a year for 2 years of Coren's services, I would snap her up muy muy pronto. TiltWare will make back the USD$2 million in "marketing expenses" in the UK market alone in less than a year.

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well that may be true in terms of player acquisition and such, but again I don't think it has a lot to do with the IPO. Institutional investors will invest based on the online poker industry, Full Tilt's place in it, and its growth prospects worlwide. She would be one of many many people in the Full Tilt stable, many of whom will always be more marketable than her. Given that Full Tilt already sponsors the Hendon Mob, I don't think they are lacking in British pro presence.

re: Poker Stars, they already have Mercier as their token chick, and she does quite well PR wise - I'm not sure they need another one, and I think Stars has their eyes set in areas beyond the UK.

also, I don't know when either IPO is planned, but the major benefit will be when the broadcast of the event airs...when is that going to be?

[olivert]

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well that may be true in terms of player acquisition and such, but again I don't think it has a lot to do with the IPO. Institutional investors will invest based on the online poker industry, Full Tilt's place in it, and its growth prospects worlwide. She would be one of many many people in the Full Tilt stable, many of whom will always be more marketable than her. Given that Full Tilt already sponsors the Hendon Mob, I don't think they are lacking in British pro presence.

re: Poker Stars, they already have Mercier as their token chick, and she does quite well PR wise - I'm not sure they need another one, and I think Stars has their eyes set in areas beyond the UK.

also, I don't know when either IPO is planned, but the major benefit will be when the broadcast of the event airs...when is that going to be?

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RETAIL INVESTORS, not the institutions, will control the price of any stock between the IPO and the expiration of the lockup period 6 months after the IPO, when inside investors are able to sell, because the "float" of outstanding stock being traded before the expireation of the lockup period is thin.

The likes of TiltWare and PokerStars need to expose their brand in the UK because they need retail investors in the UK to prop up their stock between the IPO and the expiration of the lockup period.

Let's put it this way: if the investors of PokerStars and/or TiltWare weren't interested in selling their shares at inflated prices, they would not have considered the IPO route in the first place.

Being a private business is much more advantageous in the long run than being a public company because private businesses don't have to publish their financial results every 3 months.

Of course, if your objective is to cash out quickly after doing some "marketing" to hype up your company, then the IPO route is certainly a very lucrative option.

[Sciolist]

Is Oliver Vicky's agent?