Michael Craig's Journal

Before the World Series, I was visiting Howard Lederer. He was amusingly annoyed at an ad Doyle’s Room was running. We got on the subject of the lack of imagination of online poker sites competing with Full Tilt. This particular ad said something like, “Other online sites just give you a seat to the Main Event.” It has a pile of chairs, with logos from online sites, Full Tilt’s included. Then it lists all the unique things Doyle’s Room provided to its Main Event qualifiers.

“I don’t mind them taking us on; that’s competition. But where’s the originality? Just about every item they say they provide, we’re providing and provided last year. They even stole what the chairs look like from our ads!”

Well, Bub, Doyle is gunning for you again, and he’s willing to use Sam Grizzle as a sacrificial lamb to do it. The ad, splashed across CARD PLAYER and probably elsewhere, says “OUR PLAYERS SUCK. If you want to get beat by the pros, play somewhere else. Let me teach YOU how to beat these clowns.” Then it has a picture, under “our players suck” of Doyle’s Room pro Sam Grizzle.

It has a certain campy charm, but (a) Sam Grizzle with his tongue hanging out of his mouth is just too strange to succeed, (b) saying your players (or your pros, if you want to take the message that way) suck can’t be smart if anyone takes it literally, and (c) I don’t know about the other sites but just about all the things listed as unique about Doyle’s Room also exist on Full Tilt.

The crazy thing is that they push the “weekly chance at more than $50,000 playing legends and celebrities in the weekly bounty tournament.” Playing legends? Legends who suck? Or legends like the ones who will beat you on the other sites?

Last but not least, Doyle’s Room offers “THE WIDEST VARIETY of games and limits including Texas Hold ‘Em, 7 Card Stud, Omaha, and Badugi.” If they are filling up Badugi tables on Doyle’s Room, then Brunson’s got it exactly right. Their players ARE clowns.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 21st, 2006 at 1:58 am and is filed under Categorized.