I have a real bad taste in my mouth about Harrah's right now since they made large campaign contributions to Senator Bill Frist, who then did what Harrahs wanted him to do and snuck the online gambling bill as a rider in the port security bill. If Harrahs just had the Vegas casino I can't see them doing this, but with their spreading to places like Indiana and Wichita, Kansas it seems as if they see online poker as their biggest competition, not other casinos. And Harrahs apparently did a right lousy job running the WSOP this year, with last minute changes to tournament structures--the most obvious being the No Limit Hold'em Shootout that was unannounced changed from a two-tier full-ring event to a three-tier short-table event, and then ejecting players (like Harry Demetrieu) who complained about it. Thus, I really wish Binions hadn't sold the WSOP to Harrahs. Poker doesn't need to be corporate. I'm going to try to avoid Harrahs if at all possible, though knowing that poker sooner or later is going to have to go through them.  |