The Death of the WPT??

ok, here is my spin...

World Poker Tour is not profitable... They have lost money every quarter since inception. The business is highly scalable and would be very profitable if sales grew mightily from here.... but it doesn't look like they will.

ESPN expanded coverage with WSOP circuit events. Fox Sports airing more poker. NBC airing poker. Yada yada yada...

Now Barry Greenstein is talking about the fact that the networks are bidding on the players 'poker league' -- a league consisting of a number of teams of name players... These players are pissed off at WPT for (up to recently) not allowing sponsorhips at final tables and the WPT is competing with them with fantasy camps and now launch their own online gaming site.... Some players are boycotting the WPT...

So back 2 months or so, Doyle makes bid for WPT -- it was on 'Doyles Room' home poker site when you logged in so this was not just a rumor -- it was fact... The bid fails... Seems it was just too expensive for the players to get together and do this league thing through WPT Enterprises.... Why pay $1-2 billion to WPT Enterprises when you can organize if for a fraction of that and sell it to the networks???

So WPTE stock hit $29 when that offer was announced.. but is now back knocking on the door of single digits...

So I bring up my new theory... WPT will go the way of the failed inventor... like Netscape... just too much well-funded competition.

[NCAces]

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ok, here is my spin...

World Poker Tour is not profitable... They have lost money every quarter since inception. The business is highly scalable and would be very profitable if sales grew mightily from here.... but it doesn't look like they will.

ESPN expanded coverage with WSOP circuit events. Fox Sports airing more poker. NBC airing poker. Yada yada yada...

Now Barry Greenstein is talking about the fact that the networks are bidding on the players 'poker league' -- a league consisting of a number of teams of name players... These players are pissed off at WPT for (up to recently) not allowing sponsorhips at final tables and the WPT is competing with them with fantasy camps and now launch their own online gaming site.... Some players are boycotting the WPT...

So back 2 months or so, Doyle makes bid for WPT -- it was on 'Doyles Room' home poker site when you logged in so this was not just a rumor -- it was fact... The bid fails... Seems it was just too expensive for the players to get together and do this league thing through WPT Enterprises.... Why pay $1-2 billion to WPT Enterprises when you can organize if for a fraction of that and sell it to the networks???

So WPTE stock hit $29 when that offer was announced.. but is now back knocking on the door of single digits...

So I bring up my new theory... WPT will go the way of the failed inventor... like Netscape... just too much well-funded competition.

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Don't know about your spin, but I there was a previous thread that Doyle's group may be facing some serious SEC action for their "bid." That should be interesting to see.

NCAces

[MyMindIsGoing]

Even more intresting would be a list of players boycoting the wpt.

[Quicksilvre]

Phil Gordon is one.

[PayTheSnucka]

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ok, here is my spin...

World Poker Tour is not profitable... They have lost money every quarter since inception. The business is highly scalable and would be very profitable if sales grew mightily from here.... but it doesn't look like they will.

ESPN expanded coverage with WSOP circuit events. Fox Sports airing more poker. NBC airing poker. Yada yada yada...

Now Barry Greenstein is talking about the fact that the networks are bidding on the players 'poker league' -- a league consisting of a number of teams of name players... These players are pissed off at WPT for (up to recently) not allowing sponsorhips at final tables and the WPT is competing with them with fantasy camps and now launch their own online gaming site.... Some players are boycotting the WPT...

So back 2 months or so, Doyle makes bid for WPT -- it was on 'Doyles Room' home poker site when you logged in so this was not just a rumor -- it was fact... The bid fails... Seems it was just too expensive for the players to get together and do this league thing through WPT Enterprises.... Why pay $1-2 billion to WPT Enterprises when you can organize if for a fraction of that and sell it to the networks???

So WPTE stock hit $29 when that offer was announced.. but is now back knocking on the door of single digits...

So I bring up my new theory... WPT will go the way of the failed inventor... like Netscape... just too much well-funded competition.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't know about your spin, but I there was a previous thread that Doyle's group may be facing some serious SEC action for their "bid." That should be interesting to see.

NCAces

[/ QUOTE ]

I distinctly remember that Deloitte resigned as auditor at that time. I asked a colleague who was a former auditor what would cause an auditing firm to resign from an account. He said that there were 2 possibilities:

1. The auditing revenue is dwarfed by potential consulting revenue

2. Fraud

It's a damn shame as far as TV goes, because the WPT shows are 10x as interesting as the WSOP shows. 2 hours covering a table with 6 players means a hell of a lot more hands and more time spent seeing how they bet/call/fold.

WSOP coverage is 9(10?) handed and only 1 hour. You basically get to see 9 all-in hands where someone is knocked out, and maybe 2-3 other "interesting hands". WSOP coverage of hands is so quick there's almost no time to see how much the preflop raiser raised (2x, 3x the BB?), what the stack sizes were, etc.

[burningyen]

Not that I'm an expert on auditors or think this is the case here, but couldn't an auditor also resign if there's some other conflict of interest besides the auditing vs. consulting issue?

Consulting revenue can't be high given the fact that the company is small (in terms of revenue). There simply can't be 'significant' IT or strategy projects if revenues are low... its that simple...

I am not calling WPT fraudulent... but there is at least a good story here that hasn't been told yet re Doyle's group & Deloitte... maybe there was some stock manipulation by a few members of the investor group ahead of Doyles groups announcement... I am not saying that this was Doyle -- just speculating that it was Doyles 'Group'...

[KramerTM]

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It's a damn shame as far as TV goes, because the WPT shows are 10x as interesting as the WSOP shows. 2 hours covering a table with 6 players means a hell of a lot more hands and more time spent seeing how they bet/call/fold.

WSOP coverage is 9(10?) handed and only 1 hour. You basically get to see 9 all-in hands where someone is knocked out, and maybe 2-3 other "interesting hands". WSOP coverage of hands is so quick there's almost no time to see how much the preflop raiser raised (2x, 3x the BB?), what the stack sizes were, etc.

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I agree man. This news upsets me a lot. I hope they rebound and stick around.

[Vee Quiva]

Deloitte resigned because of the Department of Justice's stance that online poker is illegal in the United States. They were fine until the WPT decided to open their online poker site.

With all the legal pitfalls of being an auditor these days, I can see why Deloitte would take a walk.