On October 13, 2006, Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (known as the UIGEA)[1]. Although this law did not specifically prohibit playing poker for money online, it made it illegal for banks to transact with online gambling sites. As a result, many players took their money offline, in fear that they would not be able to get it on a later date. Also, many major poker sites discontinued business in the United States (there are still sites who maintain that what they are doing is not illegal under this law, and therefore still operate in America).
Because this was such a major blow to the poker industry, many sites tightened their purse strings, and became less willing to sponsor players. As far as PokerStars or FullTilt was concerned, they had plenty of twenty-something drop-out-turned-poker players to draw aspiring players to their site. From here, players needed to differentiate themselves, or consistently have fantastic results to become a sponsored professional player.
At the same time that this was happening, Twitter was beginning to gain more and more users. To gain more exposure, professional pokers players, both signed and unsigned to online poker sites began Twittering their hearts out. One major way Twitter was used was to provide updates when players were in a large buy-in tournament. Traditionally, sites like pokernews.com provided live updates and chip counts for those following casino tournaments online. Although these ventures were largely successful, it was, and still is, very difficult to provide updates for hundreds or even thousands of players simultaneously. These sites committed many errors throughout the tournament. Not only that, but some players who have a fan following might not even be mentioned.
With the use of Twitter, players were able to individually give their own updates and chip counts. They were also able to inform their fans of any interesting hands that were played. This practice has grown, and now a vast amount of professional poker players have their own Twitter account.
Professional poker player and CEO of Pokerroad.com Joe Sebok was savvy enough to utilize the technology and the growing phenomenon that was Twitter to successfully garner himself a “sponsored pro” position as well as a “Media & Operations Consultant[2].”
Sebok was able to strike a deal with Twitter to put him on the “Recommended Follow” page, which propelled his followship exponentially. To give you an idea, one of the most popular professional poker players that has a Twitter feed, Daniel Negreanu currently has 67,588 followers[3], while Sebok currently has 1.1 million[4]. Sebok has nowhere near the amount of success or media exposure that Negreanu has had over the past 5 years, but with Twitter recommending everyone to follow him, he was able to skyrocket past every professional poker player.
At the same time, Sebok utilized Twitter in one of the most ingenious ways possible. Sebok realized that every pro was “tweeting” their updates now, but it was cumbersome to follow all of the pros, along with all of the other people. Sebok created a page on his site called “Poker Road Nation.” Because of Sebok’s influence, along with his step-father Barry Greenstein’s, influence he was able to convince marquee named pros to utilize the tool, along with the Poker Road community that he spent the last three years cultivating.
Poker Road Nation worked accordingly. You would go to the site and select to “follow” Poker Road Nation, on the page, and it would immediately follow you. Now, every time you tweeted, it would show up on the Poker Road nation page, along with everyone else who was participating. Sebok was also wise enough to wait until the first day of the World Series of Poker to unveil the new technology, where poker’s hype is at its highest.
Sebok’s innovation with Twitter, not his poker prowess, was what got him the sponsorship at Ultimate Bet. Now, many poker players are trying to follow suit, and for some, it’s working. John Robert Bellande, parlayed his televised poker exposure into a stint on the reality show Survivor. Now, Bellande chronicles his high stakes cash game gambling on his twitter feed, broadcasting his total bankroll[5] at the end of each tweet.
Bellande has built such a grass roots following on twitter that he now is a spokesman for “The Ivey Room,” a poker room at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas[6]. Poker players are constantly looking for ways to make an extra buck on the side, and by widening your exposure, it has proven to pay dividends for those that are successful.
