Fire Jack Effel Now!!!!

[Rottersod]

[ QUOTE ]
For some reason this thread reminds me of the Terrence Chan thread at the Playboy Mansion poker charity event.

Also, why does the princess use a "!" after every sentence? Does she know that a "." is also a form of punctuation!

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't have the time now to search for that thread and re-read it but please don't tell me that Effel was the TD for that clusterf@#k too.

[Dan Druff]

MrFizzbin,

Your assumptions about me are far from correct. While poker has its share of perpetually-unemployed degenerates, I'm not part of that demographic.

I'm 35 years old. I worked a regular job for nearly 9 years prior to becoming a professional poker player. During that time, I got a good sampling of the rewards and pitfalls of the corporate world. I split my working years about equally working for a huge company first, then a small company afterwards. Due to changes in management at both jobs, I got to experience the entire array of management types -- the good, the bad, and the ugly.

You say that my post "screams naivete". I maintain that your apologist response is the one on the naive side.

There are few more overused (and almost always inaccurate) excuses than, "I would love to have done things differently, but upper management has my hands tied." That old line still works well to this day, because it's nearly impossible to refute, and most people tend to believe that upper-level managers are often greedy and clueless regarding day-to-day operations.

It's easy to picture some evil, cigar-chomping Harrah's bigwig telling a well-meaning Jack Effel, "Screw the players! They'll play no matter what the conditions! You can't have another room under any circumstances! You can't stop the cash games if the tent is hot, noisy, or dangerous! Profits, Jack! It's all about profits! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!"

In reality, that's not how life (or upper management) works.

Harrah's has every intention upon putting on a well-executed World Series. Failing to do so causes a variety of repercussions for the company. Harrah's spends a lot of money each year promoting the World Series. The last thing they want is for the word-of-mouth to get around that they run it like crap. They want it to grow each year, with more and more people descending upon their properties. These people not only spend money on the Series itself, but also in their restaurants, hotels, casinos, etc. Hardcore poker pros like me will keep coming back even if it's run poorly. Joe Casual Gambler may very well not.

You are fooling yourself if you think Effel had a directive from above not to stop the cash games if the tent was too hot. That's a day-to-day operations matter -- something that people like Effel are given the power to use their discretion to handle. The people above Jeffrey Pollack know very little about the logistics of running the event. They just want it run well and for it to show a nice profit.

I can almost guarantee you that if Pollack or Effel had properly communicated the need for extra room -- and the potential harm the company would suffer for not allocating proper space -- another room could have been secured. Ditto regarding the 4-6 hour line situation for the first few days of the Series. I can assure you that such a thing was not the intention of Harrah's upper management, and that Effel/Pollack would have been given the proper resources to prevent such a disaster from occurring had they planned things properly in the first place.

If you have stubborn managers, it's up to you to communicate to them exactly WHY they need to change their mind. Simply accepting "No" and figuring you can blame them later is not properly doing your job.

I was never suggesting that Jack Effel become the "Harrah's rebel" and openly defy orders from above. Only a fool (or someone who doesn't care about their job) would do such a thing. However, it seems all of these issues were a result of a combination of poor initial planning, lack of contingency planning, and lack of desire to make on-the-fly changes to fix unforeseen problems.

A manager has two tasks in utilizing his resources. One is to plan his resources properly and make a convincing case to his bosses to get them. The second task is to use what he was given -- whether sufficient or not -- in the best possible way. At this World Series, neither was done properly.

All of the corporate passing-of-the-buck still won't change that fact, no matter how convincing it can sometimes sound.

[Rottersod]

[ QUOTE ]
MrFizzbin,

Your assumptions about me are far from correct. While poker has its share of perpetually-unemployed degenerates, I'm not part of that demographic.

I'm 35 years old. I worked a regular job for nearly 9 years prior to becoming a professional poker player. During that time, I got a good sampling of the rewards and pitfalls of the corporate world. I split my working years about equally working for a huge company first, then a small company afterwards. Due to changes in management at both jobs, I got to experience the entire array of management types -- the good, the bad, and the ugly.

You say that my post "screams naivete". I maintain that your apologist response is the one on the naive side.

There are few more overused (and almost always inaccurate) excuses than, "I would love to have done things differently, but upper management has my hands tied." That old line still works well to this day, because it's nearly impossible to refute, and most people tend to believe that upper-level managers are often greedy and clueless regarding day-to-day operations.

It's easy to picture some evil, cigar-chomping Harrah's bigwig telling a well-meaning Jack Effel, "Screw the players! They'll play no matter what the conditions! You can't have another room under any circumstances! You can't stop the cash games if the tent is hot, noisy, or dangerous! Profits, Jack! It's all about profits! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!"

In reality, that's not how life (or upper management) works.

Harrah's has every intention upon putting on a well-executed World Series. Failing to do so causes a variety of repercussions for the company. Harrah's spends a lot of money each year promoting the World Series. The last thing they want is for the word-of-mouth to get around that they run it like crap. They want it to grow each year, with more and more people descending upon their properties. These people not only spend money on the Series itself, but also in their restaurants, hotels, casinos, etc. Hardcore poker pros like me will keep coming back even if it's run poorly. Joe Casual Gambler may very well not.

You are fooling yourself if you think Effel had a directive from above not to stop the cash games if the tent was too hot. That's a day-to-day operations matter -- something that people like Effel are given the power to use their discretion to handle. The people above Jeffrey Pollack know very little about the logistics of running the event. They just want it run well and for it to show a nice profit.

I can almost guarantee you that if Pollack or Effel had properly communicated the need for extra room -- and the potential harm the company would suffer for not allocating proper space -- another room could have been secured. Ditto regarding the 4-6 hour line situation for the first few days of the Series. I can assure you that such a thing was not the intention of Harrah's upper management, and that Effel/Pollack would have been given the proper resources to prevent such a disaster from occurring had they planned things properly in the first place.

If you have stubborn managers, it's up to you to communicate to them exactly WHY they need to change their mind. Simply accepting "No" and figuring you can blame them later is not properly doing your job.

I was never suggesting that Jack Effel become the "Harrah's rebel" and openly defy orders from above. Only a fool (or someone who doesn't care about their job) would do such a thing. However, it seems all of these issues were a result of a combination of poor initial planning, lack of contingency planning, and lack of desire to make on-the-fly changes to fix unforeseen problems.

A manager has two tasks in utilizing his resources. One is to plan his resources properly and make a convincing case to his bosses to get them. The second task is to use what he was given -- whether sufficient or not -- in the best possible way. At this World Series, neither was done properly.

All of the corporate passing-of-the-buck still won't change that fact, no matter how convincing it can sometimes sound.

[/ QUOTE ]

Great post DD. I'd like to add that his job doesn't start on the day that the WSOP begins. A large part of his responsibility is for managing the planning for the events and he really dropped the ball here by letting the first couple of days turn into a fiasco with the registration lines and the poor cards. Also, don't forget the problems with the pre-registration website failing and having to be abandoned the week before the first event. All of these problems could have been avoided by proper planning and scheduling.

[Bonified]

[ QUOTE ]

Isn't this the fourth WSOP TD in as many years?

Think #5 will get it perfect?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure that Johnny Grooms at least declined to stay with the WSOP, and I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of the others made that decision themselves too.

[Matt Savage]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I will take any amount of money you can raise that Harrah's will have the event next year. When Harrah's got involved in the Horseshoe downtown, it was done primarily to get the WSOP name, which has been a gigantic cash cow for them. Why in the world would they give up the ownership or running of it when, despite these gripes, it will end up considered a huge success at the end of the day?

[/ QUOTE ]

You are 100% wrong about this, Harrah's took over the Horseshoe for its name, they had no clue about the WSOP in 2004.

Matt Savage

[/ QUOTE ]Matt, could you clarify what you mean by no clue about the WSOP? Obviously they knew about it, do you mean they had no idea what it took to run?

[/ QUOTE ]

Only one person in Harrah's management (Gary Thompson) knew anything about the WSOP and it was regarded as a "Poker Tournament" by others. It was not until they saw the amount of marketing that could be generated that they really cared about the WSOP.

Matt Savage

[Matt Savage]

[ QUOTE ]
My vote for the identity of PrincessENE goes to Wendeen Eolis, the person responsible for shutting the first Poker Clubs in NYC, who is now on the advisory board.

[/ QUOTE ]

Lou, I can almost GUARANTEE it is not Wendeen, I know her pretty well and also know that she represents Tournament Director Thomas Kemser and would not say that Jack was the best for that reason.

Matt Savage

[Orangeheat]

El D linked an interesting bio of Jack........

Very mischievous of late.

Orange

[Matt Savage]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Isn't this the fourth WSOP TD in as many years?

Think #5 will get it perfect?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure that Johnny Grooms at least declined to stay with the WSOP, and I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of the others made that decision themselves too.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can tell you that in my case they wanted the top job at the WSOP to be filled with a Harrah's full time employee and I was unwilling to give up my other commitments.

I like Jack Effel quite a bit he has been very nice to me and my wife. He also has been a strong supporter of the Tournament Directors Association rules at the WSOP and has even asked me many questions regarding rules. I respect a person that is willing to ask questions about what they do not know. I would also be happy to work with Jack Effel if the opportunity ever presented itself in the future. The WSOP was a huge stepping stone in my career and I miss the long hours, the challenges, and am very happy that I met so many good people and players during my tenure as WSOP TD.For me it was never about the money.
If people think that Jack's job is an easy one they are mistaken.


Matt Savage

[TheNoodleMan]

[ QUOTE ]


I haven't said anything yet, that I wouldn't say to anyones face! I'm not ashamed of anything I’ve said on this forum!

[/ QUOTE ]

Then why are you refusing come out and state your identity?
There is nothing wrong with defending your husband, but why not be open about it?

[AngusThermopyle]

[ QUOTE ]

If people think that Jack's job is an easy one they are mistaken.


Matt Savage

[/ QUOTE ]

Harder than playing Omaha Hi/Lo against Sammy?