Bluff Magazine Announces “Power 20″

Dustin : February 4th, 2010

Any time a list regarding the “top” anything comes out in poker, it’s the subject of much debate. And Bluff Magazine’s “Power 20″ is no different.

Here’s the list, which is supposed to be an accounting of the “poker industry’s most influential entities.” Right off the bat, you’ll note that the top two places are poker sites, not individuals. Parenthetical references are included for the names that are not of the household variety.

1. PokerStars
2. Full Tilt Poker
3. Mitch Garber (CEO of Harrah’s)
4. Howard Lederer
5. Ty Stewart (WSOP Director of Marketing)
6. Doyle Brunson
7. Barney Frank (U.S. Congressman sponsoring legislation for the legalization of online poker)
8. Daniel Negreanu
9. Tony G
10. Joe Cada
11. Phil Ivey
12. John Pappas (Director of the Poker Players Alliance)
13. Mike Sexton
14. Mori Eskandani (TV poker producer)
15. Brian Balsbaugh (poker agent)
16. Lance Bradley (Bluff Magazine editor in chief)
17. Joe Sebok
18. Barry Shulman (Card Player CEO)
19. Matt Savage (L.A. Poker Classic tournament director)
20. Per Hagen (poker agent)

Some observations on the list, from internet chatter and in general:
–A lot of people seem to think Joe Cada, the 2009 World Series of Poker main event champion, is ranked too high. While ME champions are well-known, most of them aren’t that influential. A year from now, Cada likely won’t make this list. Although, right now, he has a lot of momentum and gets a lot of publicity. So maybe it’s an accurate snapshot in time.
–This is not a list of the most influential players, not the world’s most popular or best poker players. But the players themselves are the ones who move the needle in the public realm. It’s hard to argue with Ivey and Brunson, and some might quibble with Lederer’s high placing. Tony G is certainly well-known and a big staker in the poker world, but some players are conspicuous in their absence. You certainly can’t include all of them, but Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Phil Hellmuth (love him or hate him, he’s the face of UltimateBet), Annie Duke and Patrik Antonius all merit at least some consideration. That all of them aren’t on the list seems like an omission.
–If you’re opening this up to organizations/companies (like PokerStars and Full Tilt), there’s definitely some glaring omissions. The World Series of Poker? Party Poker? World Poker Tour? ESPN? The U.S. government? All of these are more influential than nearly everyone on the list. Many on the Web are saying either make it all individuals, or open it up to all comers/entities.

Anyway, it’s something new for the poker world to debate.