Poker Celebrities
By Debbie Burkhead

What makes a poker player a celebrity? Is it how many tournaments they have won? Is it how much money they have won? Is it a specific tournament they have won? Are you more of a celebrity if you have won a “Gold Bracelet” from the “World Series of Poker?” Would two watches from the “Hall of Fame” tournament equal one WSOP Gold Bracelet? How many trophies or plaques would it take to be classified a poker celebrity?

Which and how many tournaments do you have to win to be considered a poker celeb? Would 10 “Orleans Opens” be enough to make you famous?

How many tournaments do you need to direct before you are famous? How many tournaments must you win to become a tournament host? How many magazines do you need to buy to become a well known poker player? Does your association with poker celebrities give you the same status.

The answer: Poker venues, such as magazines and web sites, create the image of poker celebrities. In the live world of poker it is very likely that those poker players are familiar with some of the well known tournament players. They learn about them by reading poker magazines and websites with poker forums. But rarely do tournament players know who the live players are unless they also are tournament players.

Have you ever heard of a magazine all about live poker players? Todays magazines are choked full of advertisements announcing poker tournaments. They draw the average, not so famous, poker players into the tournament arena using poker celebrities to host these events.

It gives the average poker player a chance to play along side his or her favorite poker celebrity. It also gives them the opportunity to eliminate a poker celebrity and take home bragging rights to all his friends.

When was the last time you read about a live action poker player? Or a regular player hosting a famous poker tournament? There are lots of articles written about strategy for the live player and thousands of words written about bad beats. But you rarely learn about the player by name or see pictures of live players like you do tournament players.

Every so often one of the poker writers such as Susie Isaacs or Vince Burgio will convey a human interest story about a poker player which may include his/her photo. Rarely do we get to follow his/her career. On occasion the writers might do a follow up a year or two later.

There are poker writers who write about situations and hands that they themselves have experienced. The purpose being to analyze, teach and educate other poker players but rarely, if ever, do they name players.

I wonder if the poker niche magazine publishers realize that the live player and especially the live player who will “cross over” into other areas of a casino, is one huge reason casinos buy advertising space. The casinos want to woe the player for their poker action in the hopes that he or she along with their friends or family members may join them on a jaunt into the pit or a ban of slot machines. Without the live poker players, we wouldn’t have poker rooms or poker tournaments.

The live pokers players make it possible for casinos to sponsor poker tournaments. The casinos rely on the live action to support the cost of sponsoring a poker tournament.

Generally speaking poker tournaments alone are not money makers. These poker playing people who make up the vast majority of our poker playing public are never regarded with the distinction of being a “Poker Celebrity” or glorified by his poker peers. I believe we need to give thanks to all the live poker players who make it possible for poker tournaments to exist.

Now go out there and show'em you can play poker!