Jennifer Newell

In my last post, I was a little hard on Harrah's for their treatment of women during this year's WSOP. Even so, I felt it was justifiable and stand by my opinions. Today, I'm going to give some of my impressions of how Harrah's dealt with the media.

The 2007 WSOP was my first experience as a full-time reporter who was there from beginning to end, with the exception of a few days off here and there. I was reporting for PokerPages, and I quickly learned that since I was not affiliated with Bluff, PokerNews, or ESPN, I was nudged (shoved) down on the totem pole. I understand that those media outlets paid big money for their exclusive rights to the action, and those of us from other magazines or websites immediately knew that our access was limited.

Gary Thompson from Harrah's, Nick Geber from Bluff, and others had no problem clarifying the media rules right from the beginning, and most of us had no problem understanding them. I will say that I don't begrudge anyone for the rights that they have bought and/or earned. That's the way of the corporate world, and the WSOP is a part of that. But I will also say that I felt a bit like a freshman in high school being told that the seniors rule and will kick my ass if I think otherwise. The good thing was that I didn't get shoved into my locker, so I guess that's the glass half full, right?

Although there was definitely a clear-cut line that non-Bluff/PokerNews/ESPN reporters shouldn't cross, I will admit that as the weeks went on, the rules became mostly a set of guidelines rather than strictly enforced law. The PokerNews crew was always friendly to other media, mostly because they're experienced and know the rest of us and what we were trying to accomplish. Bluff seemed to do their own thing and not be too concerned with everyone else. And Harrah's seemed to realize that we were all simply trying to do our jobs, and most of us could be granted a little leeway when things weren't too crazy.

It was the ESPN camera crews that gave me a problem, especially when the main event was underway. As I came to understand it, the crews were told that they had unlimited access to the players and tables, and the rest of the media were to see it, respect it, love it, and jump through hoops (or over tables) to get out of their way. Though I understood the rules, I wrongly assumed that there would be some common courtesy involved.

The day came that I was watching a table to see Todd Brunson move all-in during the main event, and the ESPN crews stumbled over like vultures who detected a dying player. I was pushed, which led to a heated discussion between one of the associate producers and me. Without getting into the nasty details, I was later approached by an ESPN producer who accused me of doing the pushing and threatened to remove my press pass if I didn't abide by the rules to the letter. Side note: Many other members of the media, even PokerNews reporters, had told of being pushed and shoved by the ESPN crews.

Eventually, Gary Thompson caught wind of the situation and came to chat with me privately. He knew that I wouldn't shove anyone, and he understood that I was uncomfortable being a "marked" reporter whose every move was now being watched by ESPN. Gary assured me that this would not happen again, and though I wasn't involved in any further discussions, I soon noticed that the ESPN crews were shouting, "Excuse me!" when coming to a table, and they were being careful not to be too rude to reporters in the tournament area.

My point is that Gary and other Harrah's employees saw that such rigid rules aren't always the best policy, and though they are necessary to set a standard, the enforcement of those rules doesn't need to be so rigid that people are alienated and angry. Toward the end of the series, people and media outlets seemed to be treated as their behavior thus far had warranted, and fairness became the overall goal.

In the end, I feel that most of the media ended up feeling positive about their treatment by Harrah's, and I, for one, didn't leave with negative feeling about the experience. I met so many great people during my weeks of coverage, and I only wish that I had time to get to know more of them. But there's always next year...