Will WSOP Main Event Bracelet End Up In The Trash?

Jeff Shulman caused a stir after making the final table of the WSOP Main Event by saying that he would throw the bracelet into the trash if he went on to win the poker tournament. This was largely due to what Shulman thought was unfair behaviour by Harrah’s in hugely restricting access to media coverage to any media outlet apart from ESPN and PokerNews. As Shulman is the editor of Cardplayer magazine, you can perhaps see why he was ruffled by this restriction 

I am sure that the sales of his magazine have gone up in the wake of his excellent performance as his editor column features little snippets of information only found here and as a member of the November Nine he can give very relevant content to his magazine. By saying he may renounce the bracelet if he wins in protest of the media embargo is a clever marketing ploy. This author and many others became very interested in Jeff and what he had to say about the World Series once it became public here was a player with a potential axe to grind with Harrah’s.

My own view of the situation was that Jeff was making the biggest impact statement he could find to draw attention to him and his vested interests. He later partially retracted the statement after talks with Harrah’s however they must still be a little worried he may decide to throw away the bracelet in any case if he wins. It would be a massive picture and you can bet someone will have a trash can on standby hoping to catch a shot of him ditching the bracelet!

I think the whole episode needs to be put into perspective. Whilst he may throw away the bracelet in symbolic disgust at the treatment of his magazine, this would undoubtedly have a negative impact on his poker standing as it is not a good thing for poker. His magazine would also not get coverage next year as it is unlikely Harrah’s will say “Do not worry about rubbishing the bracelet that we put millions into increasing the value of, here is full access!” It is almost certain that if the bracelet does go in the trash can the $8 million prize will not follow it. So perhaps Jeff is just doing what I would be doing in that situation, maximising his coverage, but in a controversial way.

He may, however, have cost himself sponsorship opportunities. If a company like Full Tilt or Stars was thinking of paying him big money to advertise their site it must be a concern that a player will denounce the World Series whilst proudly wearing their logo. When you consider that all the players have received the 9^th place money and there is a chance that the advertising revenues they can generate for themselves is their last earnings from the event causing negative media is not the most sensible thing to do. It is therefore my belief that he is being remunerated based on Cardplayer magazine sales as there is much interest in what he says through this medium.

Whether you agree with his comments or think that he may or may not throw the bracelet away one thing is for sure that all eyes are on Jeff to see if he can go all the way, in every sense of the word. He is certainly one of the more likely winners of the tournament. Perhaps he does want to win and be main event champion. The fact that he announced in a Cardplayer column recently that he has signed up Phil Hellmuth to coach him before the final table suggests that his comments may be aimed more at taking a swipe at Harrah’s rather than legitimately hating the WSOP and what it stands for. Like every member of that final table he wants to win, make no mistake about that.

By Malcolm Clarke

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Tags: cardplayer, jeff shulman, november nine, novemeber 9, shulman, world series of poker, wsop main event