Home / Poker News December 2012 / The Worst Poker Stories of 2012 – ISPT Meltdown
The Worst Poker Stories of 2012 – ISPT Meltdown
Posted by: Randy Williams - Wed, 2012-12-26 07:07
While the year was definitely rich in positive poker developments, there have been quite a few truly cringe-worthy moments as well. One such moment was the rise and the fall of the ISPT idea/concept, which now appears headed for the trash bin, never having made it past the drawing board.
The first news-bits regarding the ISPT came back in 2011, when a video promising a truly monumental series of events surfaced. According to the video, Groupe Bernard Tapie, the organization which back then seemed on the verge of rescuing Full Tilt Poker, would host an inaugural event for its ISPT at Wembley Stadium in London, which would offer a $30 million guarantee. Players would be given electronic devices in the stands which they could use to play through the preliminary stages of the event. Those who made the final stages would then take a seat at the tables on the pitch and play down to the winner live.
After the Full Tilt Poker deal fell through though, the prospects of the ISPT quickly began to fade too. Word then surfaced that the guarantee had been dropped to $20 million, and the fact that some ISPT officials vehemently denied the existence of the $30 million deal in the first-place, didn’t help the overall profile of the event either. The starting date of the first event was then pushed back to May 2013 and then it turned out that the $20 million guarantee referred to the whole series, including the side events.
Still later, rumors surfaced that those who wanted to take part in the
poker tournament would have to bring their own laptops to play in the stands.
Although slew of high profile professionals (like Sam Trickett) became ISPT ambassadors, it now looks like they may have signed on to a lost cause.
