Time to call time on the Global Poker League

(Photo: Pokernews.com)

The Global Poker League, also known as the GPL, failed as a concept when it became an online event despite big promises. Recent media attention on the CEO Alex Dreyfus has once again shone a light on some things the GPL would prefer we didn’t talk about. Before we get into that, let me be very clear on why I dislike the GPL concept.

Think back to when you first saw poker on the television or when you saw Chris Moneymaker win the WSOP Main Event bracelet in 2003. It was not the fact Chris won it that was the great thing although we were pleased for him, it was the realization that unlike the 100 meter sprint finals where the super-fit and super-fast competitors run 100 meters in under 10 seconds, nor was it like Golf where their swing is a thing of beauty we cannot emulate. It was the realization that it could be us! Our pocket 6s could crack the pros pocket Aces and the chance was the same whether it was me, you, or the world number 1 (if that’s someone else!) We have a fighting chance. There is a perception at least that we can be the best.

This is where the GPL falls flat on its face. It cannot be us, because we are not selected and the games are open to a tiny amount of people. As spectators we are just supposed to stand by and watch like good like good little fans and guess what? When it comes to poker we just want to shuffle up and deal and be involved. The GPL is on a hiding to nothing before it even starts, although I will make a small admission that if done right it could be quite watchable.

I was never bothered about what great perks players would get from playing in it. Players wearing team jerseys or being announced as team captains or participants meant nothing to me. It was just another show that mattered greatly to them as they got all high-fivey and over the top. A big announcement that, for example. Liv Boeree was to captain the London Royals and her doing loads of enthusiastic videos didn’t interest me because as lovely as Liv is, it was just another tournament and income stream for pros who are nothing like me.

I bet it comes as no surprise to you that I’ve not followed the GPL that much. Frankly, I’m probably playing online when it’s on and that’s before we cover where it was on ( Twitch).

It was never going to work. Football clubs took decades to build brand identity and an emotional link with fans. I think it’s completely nuts for anyone to think there was a chance young fans would run up to a poker player and say:

"Woah, this guy plays poker for the Las Vegas Moneymakers, can I have your autograph?”

I simply cannot suspend my disbelief on this and I also know the very same players finished filming and then started a poker game somewhere as they tried to bust one another.

The GPL did get a number of things right. They amassed a list of “Captains” that were the who's-who of poker. Elky, Kurganov, Boeree, Moneymaker, Nanonoko and many more signed up so it definitely had potential. The model of sports teams and gaining fans was, in theory, a legitimate way of extending the reach of poker using the biggest names to do it and we cannot complain about someone wanting to get into the lucrative eSports world either. But it had to be done right and it had to be done properly.

On this it failed. The proclamations from CEO Dreyfus that he would fill sports stadiums and toured the world became a Twitch stream, albeit well-produced, but in effect far less than was promised. I wonder what the investors thought. I’d love someone to invest $5 million into my Twitch stream, I’d make it pretty good too.

In 2015 the GPL and specifically the CEO Alex Dreyfus hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons when it was revealed by a number of players that they had finished high in the Global Poker Index (GPI) rankings and had not received the promised prize of 2015 WSOP Main Event Packages. Dreyfus attempted to negotiate via email, all of which Erwann Pecheux allowed Aaron Massey to publish on his website ‘Big C*ck Poker’.

The inevitable trial by 2+2 commenced and after a pretty savage beating it was announced that despite the now public attempts Dreyfus made to alter the prizes into a staking arrangement he announced that the original main event packages would, after all, be honored. If the issue had not gone public, you can decide if you think this would have been the outcome. Dreyfus had been called out but did express his hope that after making what he admitted were mistakes in how he handled the situation, everyone could move on.

Fast forward a year to 3rd September 2016. A post breaks on 2+2 written by “ValueH”, who advises that along with his friend “BBVisbadforme” and poker tournament king Fedor Holz, he had had long discussions with Dreyfus about the GPL over the summer and as poker players do, their few conversations led to a $20k money transfer, where ValueH gave Dreyfus cash in return for a Euro bank transfer. Five weeks passed and they discovered the money had not been transferred. They immediately contacted Dreyfus.

Fedor Holz had had a similar experience and posted a similar damning post. Three days ago Dreyfus sent the money with 5% interest added and paid Holz off too. In Holz’s case he advises that Dreyfus approached him and asked for $10,000 in return for a Euro bank transfer. 9,500 euros was transferred on 2nd September. Both parties accuse Dreyfus of deliberately misleading them. As the flag bearer and CEO of the GPL, where many forum posters correctly mentioned the integrity of the GPL is closely linked to Dreyfus’s reputation in the poker world, this is unwanted media attention to say the least.

After being publicly outed, Dreyfus responded. I will say that this is a positive thing as many people under fire can and do simply lay low. He said (amongst other things you can read by clicking this link to read the thread in full):

"I've apologized to them both for having failed in respecting the original repayment deadline as it was intended.
I've also apologized to them both for the lack of communication and the non-professionalism that was inherent in this on my part.
I'm not looking for a public trial on 2+2, but understand that this is something which is unavoidable.
As such I'll focus my efforts on doing what I'm the best at, delivering a vision of promoting poker as a sport.”

It may be bad luck for Dreyfus that he was caught up in this and it could be a genuine error. This is possible. Unfortunately for him, the court of poker’s public opinion is not as diplomatic as I tend to be. His commitment to the “entrepreneur life”, which he uses as an excuse in his explanation post, might mean he is predisposed to recklessness by choice and taking chances.

I read that there could easily have been another series of High Stakes Poker recorded for a fraction of the alleged $5 million investment the GPL took to put together and I agree with this. On this basis, for an organisation that to this day boasts on the GPL website that the live event competitions are “held live at spectator venues in front of a live crowd able to follow action with hole cards and commentary live during play". These matches will feature unique gameplay formats and include stops at eSports events in addition to those held at independent venues fall short of their own standards we therefore judge them by...

I took a look at the schedule of the London Royals and see that every single fixture was played either online or, in a small number of cases, in the studio. That speaks volumes. They promised but did not deliver on the pledge for live poker. The pros did very well promoting it, but it was clear from day 1 that online poker with webcams was not “poker in a live sports arena”. Those in the poker media who wrote articles saying that things aren’t perfect but the GPL was amazing need to look themselves in the mirror and ask if the GPL ever deserved this praise. They should have written that the GPL was a let down, if you gave it credit for being a good idea in the first place, which I never did.

The Global Poker League is currently “on a break” as Dreyfus tries to sort out its problems but he would be well-served to start with his own. Increasingly the GPL looks like the fail I thought it was from the start. I admit I was biased and I simply had an opinion, but based on more than opinion now I think the facts are beginning to point towards me being right.

Please. Enough is enough. Don’t make the GPL another footnote in pokers list of failures, if it is not already there. Quit while you’re ahead or at least, not that far behind.