As with most rumors, some are later found to be completely false (Doyle was not arrested), some have a grain of truth to them (Doyle's Room customers may transfer accounts to Full Tilt as Doyle's Room pulls out of the US), and some are true, or at least mostly true. In this case, the truest of these rumors (while still a little off base) is the one about Harrah's ad policy regarding poker sites.
PokerNews reports that Harrah's has indeed revised their ad policy regarding online poker sites for the 2007 World Series of Poker. According to Director of the World Series of Poker Tournament Operations and Communications Gary Thompson, "As a gaming company licensed in more than a dozen jurisdictions in the United States and abroad, Harrah's must follow the guidance of federal law and state gaming regulations in conducting its business.
"In this regard, the 2007 World Series of Poker venue will not contain advertising from dot.com sites that allow access to US residents nor ads from dot.net sites affiliated with those entities. Harrah's position does not affect advertising that may or may not be carried out by media companies that cover the event, as they aren't subject to the same gaming-regulatory requirements as Harrah's. Nor does our position impact players. In fact, we expect to post the 2007 WSOP rules and registration procedures on worldseriesofpoker.com next week that will contain a new logo policy allowing players to wear apparel with dot.net logos as well as multiple and larger logos."
So in effect, there will be no logos on the tables by Pokerstars, Full Tilt or other sites that accept US players, but players will still be allowed to wear whatever ".net" logos they want. This is good news for the players, as some final table players were able to get additional funds from online sites just for wearing their logo at a televised final table.
Thompson had no comment on rumors that deals had been struck or changed regarding advertising on the felt of the tables at the WSOP, a prime ad spot that Party Poker shared with WSOP sponsor Milwaukee's Best Light last year. "If we do enter into any business agreement with another company, we'll make a public announcement at the appropriate time," said Thompson.
So once again, the best rumors have a grain of truth in them. There has been a change in the ad policy at the World Series of Poker, but it will not prohibit players from wearing poker site logos on hats, shirts or flesh at the table.
Thanks to Poker News and Amy Calistri for source material.