Let’s start this editorial out by saying that winning the World Series of Poker bracelet is not an easy task. If it was, a poker player like Gus Hansen could call himself a WSOP champion instead of just another piece of debris that is swept to the rail after failing in the quest for a bracelet. We are not saying Gus is untalented. We are simply stating that it is such a difficult task that a poker pro of his pedigree still hasn’t managed to take that particular hill. This is doubly true of the WSOP Main Event when thousands of people are involved. Like any other sport, luck is a factor, but nobody gets lucky every day, on every hand. Skill, when playing the World Series of Poker Main Event, is what is on display; not luck. With that said, how much clout should a WSOP Main Event winner really have?
Fox News ran a little fluff piece on poker pro and youngest person to ever with the WSOP Main Event, Joe Cada. They referred to him as “An Ambassador for Poker as a Sport”. Okay, I will concede that he is a very good Texas Hold’em player, one has to be to achieve what he has achieved, but he to refer to him as an ambassador for the game elevates him way above his station.
Contemporary history suggests that a lot of Main Event champs resemble the Texas Hold’em version of a “one hit wonder”. They tend to win the big tournament, and disappear. Peter Eastgate, Jerry Yang, and Jamie Gold are among the poker players who have won the Main Event bracelet, and failed to even threaten at that level again. Declaring Cada an ambassador for the sport of poker is like saying that “Hanson” or “Nelson” are good ambassador’s for the pop music industry. People even look sideways at somebody as current as Lady Gaga; not knowing if she is the next Madonna or the next Samantha Fox.
Joe Cada may eventually turn out to be a World Class professional, but let’s see what else he can do before anyone declares him an ambassador for the sport.
