The following article appears in the February issue of BLUFF – on newsstands now.

Each year BLUFF Magazine seeks the opinion and input of the poker industry in hopes of putting together a comprehensive list for our readers of the most influential and powerful people in the poker industry. In years past the Power 20 has included both individuals and companies or organizations. For 2010 we’ve switched things up. In an effort to give you, the reader, a more accurate and relevant account of the movers and shakers in the game today, we asked our voters to forego listing companies and fill their ballot only with individuals.

What follows is the result of over 100 ballots from members of players, agents, the poker media and those working within the industry. Hopefully the 20 individuals here have heeded the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson and acquired the wisdom to use their power well.

20. Per Hagen – Through his poker player managment company , PokerIcons, Per Hagen rpresents a number of the top online players outside of North America.  With the gambling age lower in Europe Hagen’s ability to work with players under 21 -and secure sponsorship deals for those players – has him ahead of the curve on the other side of the Atlantic.

Included on his current roster are EPT Prague champion Arnaud Mattern, online superstar and member of the Brunson 10 Chris “Moorman1″ Moorman and double WSOP bracelet winner Jesper Hougaar.  PokerIcons is also the agency of record for the WSOP Europe Main Event winner Annette “Annette_15″ Obrestad, whom many believe is destined to become  a huge star in North America .  Hagen also claims to work with the elusive “Isildur1″.

19. Matt Savage – Most of the poker circuit’s top players will tell you how much they respect Savage. Hired by the Commerce Casino prior to the 2009 LA Poker Classic to revamp their tournament offering, he’s turned the Commerce into a West Coast Mecca for poker. This past November the LA Poker Open featured an opening event with 3,293 runners – the largest field outside of the WSOP Main Event in 2009.
On top of player-friendly structures Savage is also responsible for creating some of the more unique tournament offerings including the Ironman Tournament which ran at the LAPC. With no scheduled breaks, players played for nearly 20 hours straight to determine a champion. Only two $10,000 buy-in World Poker Tour events saw growth in 2009, the LAPC and the Bay 101 Shooting Stars, and Savage was at the helm for both.

18. Barry Shulman – As the CEO of Card Player magazine, Shulman has been prominent in the poker industry for over 10 years now. With a stable of writers that includes Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu, Card Player has carved out a niche as a poker strategy resource. Running the day-to-day operations of Card Player, Shulman is in constant contact with nearly everybody on this list.

Apparently he’s been reading his own magazine and taking the advice to heart. In October 2009 he found success at the table with his stunning come-from-behind heads-up victory over Negreanu in the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event. Walking away with $1.3 million Shulman left London and returned to Las Vegas to cheer on his son, Jeff, at the World Series of Poker Main Event final table in November.

17. Joe Sebok – With $1.8 million in lifetime earnings Joe Sebok has taken that success and found a way to mirror it in the business world. As President of PokerRoad.com, he’s responsible for the day-to-day operations and he’s also managed to amass a Twitter following unmatched in the poker world: 1.1 million followers.

In 2009 he had a monster year. In July he ran deep in the WSOP Main Event, finishing 56th and earning $108,000. He followed that up by announcing the he was joining UltimateBet.com, not just as a sponsored pro, but as media and operations consultant. The move shocked many industry observers, given that the superuser scandal still held a dark cloud over the company. Sebok took the opportunity to bring some clarity and transparency to the controversy. He’s promised to work hard with the company to give the players what they want – the names of all players associated with the superuser scandal.

16. Lance Bradley – When BLUFF needed a new Editor in Chief, they turned to one of the industry’s most respected voices. Bradley has worked on all sides of the poker industry and found his way to BLUFF, first as a contributor, then Managing Editor and now as its top editorial resource. Since stepping up to his new role, Bradley has changed the editorial direction of the magazine for the better while maintaining quality online content.

Never afraid of a challenge, Bradley often collaborates with people in all facets of the industry to generate the best content possible. His work ethic during the WSOP is second to none, spending every waking minute watching the action, taking notes and establishing positive relationships with the players. Bradley has enabled BLUFF to retain its spot at the top of the poker magazine world and continues to innovate in order to keep that position.

15. Brian Balsbaugh – As the founder of the first formal poker agency, Poker Royalty, LLC, Balsbaugh represents most of the big names in the industry. He’s negotiated sponsorship deals on behalf of Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen and Patrik Antonius. Most of the agencies that have sprung up in the past three or four years have all stolen a page from the Poker Royalty playbook.

Over the past 12 months Poker Royalty, led by Balsbaugh and president James Sullivan, added Doyle Brunson and Tom “durrrr” Dwan to the roster. Along with getting poker pros aligned with online poker rooms, Balsbaugh is also responsible for putting his players in front of Corporate America with speaking engagements and appearances. Those interactions could lead to the day when the game’s top players have mainstream sponsors.

14. Mori Eskandani – The president of television production company POKER PROductions oversees the development and casting of some of the most successful poker programming on TV today. Whether it’s Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker or NBC’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship that you’re tuned into, they are all products of Eskandani and his partner Eric Drache.

Having been around the game of poker for over 20 years, Eskandani continues to have strong working relationships with the biggest names in the game. Those relationships, combined with his years of experience, enable him to ensure that each show he produces is filled with not only strong poker play, but great characters as well. By putting the likes of Brian Townsend, Andrew Robl and Ilari Sahamies on TV, he’s kept the hardcore poker fans happy while introducing the average fan to some of the best players in the world.

13. Mike Sexton – When the WSOP Main Event stopping accepting registrations on Day 1d this past summer, and hundreds of players were left out in the cold, it was Sexton who stepped in and spoke to the then-WSOP commissioner, Jeffrey Pollack. He’d already played in the event but when those that were shut out saw him walking the hallways, they unilaterally elected him as their voice. That’s no surprise.

He’s the man largely responsible for getting PartyPoker.com off the ground and helping it become a global giant before the UIGEA forced them out of the US market. He’s also been the play-by-play man for the World Poker Tour since its inception. This past summer he was elected into the Poker Hall of Fame as the lone inductee as much for his success away from the felt as at it.

12. John Pappas – The Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance, Pappas, is responsible for the overall direction of the organization, leading the charge to have online poker regulated and/or the UIGEA repealed. An experience Washington insider, there could be literally hundreds of thousands of players and potentially billions of dollars resting on his ability to manage the online poker lobby.

Under Pappas’ watch, the PPA brought on board former US senator Alfonse D’Amato as Chairman and spearheaded the National Poker Week, allowing a number of poker heavyweights in Washington DC to spread word of the fight to regulate the game. He’s also made numerous mainstream media appearances to provide the industry’s side of the story.

11. Phil Ivey – With already one of the most recognizable faces in the game, Ivey finally opened up to the media during his run at the 2009 WSOP Main Event. Taking an ESPN The Magazine reporter on an around the world private plane excursion, Ivey showed he’s ready to be more than just the most feared player on the planet.

Working with his personal manager and Creative Artists Agency (clients include Will Smith, Julia Roberts and LeBron James), Ivey could become the most marketable – and marketed – names in poker. He’s already featured in a bulk of Full Tilt Poker’s marketing collateral. But his persona, combined with his success at the table, had Fortune magazine’s November Issue examining his potential to take over Madison Avenue.

10. Joe Cada – Winning the WSOP Main Event and becoming World Champion brings with it the responsibility of being an ambassador for the game of poker. While players in the past have failed to live up to that expectation, Cada embraced it the second that he eliminated Darvin Moon to win it all.

Cada did his best to grab as much media attention as possible in the days and weeks following his win. Appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman, CNN and even Monday Night Raw, the youngest Main Event champion in history was front and center, putting poker back in the mainstream. How he handles the multitude of media requests during the 2010 WSOP, while he’s trying to defend his title, will say a lot about Cada.

9. Tony G – The entertaining, boisterous poker pro that fans either love or hate also happens to be the man responsible for PokerNews.com. While former BLUFF Editor in Chief Matthew Parvis runs the editorial product, the business vision comes straight from the mind of the man whose birth name is Antanas Guoga. The PokerNews empire also includes ChipMeUp.com, PokerWorks.com and, until recently, the smarky gossip poker forum, NeverWinPoker.com.

Live update teams covering every major poker tournament on five continents and the availability of PokerNews in 30 languages, puts PokerNews in front of a worldwide audience. Those eyeballs turn into dollars with the advertising and affiliate deals that Guoga negotiates. For the past two years PokerNews has provided the official live updates and chip counts for WorldSeriesofPoker.com.

8. Daniel Negreanu – Not many poker pros have a game show built around their personality. Actually, only one does – Negreanu. Making him the most media friendly and media savvy player on the planet, Negreanu’s charm and personality alone have allowed him to build an empire, as he’s in front of the camera more than almost every other poker pro. But of course, he’s no slouch at the table either.

In 2009 he scored a runner-up finish at the WSOP Europe Main Event, which made him the winningest player in poker history, with $12,432,267 in earnings – $170,000 ahead of Ivey. Along with his PokerStars endorsement – rumoured to be the largest in history – he also has his own online training site, PokerVT.com. Simply put, there isn’t a more successful poker pro that takes advantage of his playing ability by parlaying it into dollars even off the felt.

7. Barney Frank – If online poker is going to be regulated in the United States, it will be largely due to the efforts of Frank, the Democratic congressman from Massachusetts. While the effort to bring the game into the 21st Century is being cheered on from the sidelines, Frank is inside the huddle calling the plays.

As chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank has heavyweight clout in Washington. In May 2009, just months after he boldly predicted that the UIGEA would be defeated in 2009, he took the first step in making that a reality by revealing a bill that would regulate the iGaming industry. HR 2267 (The Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act of 2009) would see online poker operators subjected to background checks similar to what land-based operators do.

6. Doyle Brunson – How many other 77-year-olds have over 300,000 followers on Twitter? Right, not many. Doyle is the name and face of his own online poker room, DoylesRoom.com, but many consider him the face of the entire industry. Brunson comes from the old guard of poker but clearly understands the new generation of players that are taking over the poker world.

Proof of that comes from the “Brunson 10” concept that Doyle is using for DoylesRoom.com. Rather than throw his logo on just any of the available free agents, Brunson is handpicking 10 players under the age of 25, to represent DoylesRoom moving forward. He’s also just released his long awaited autobiography. On top of all that, he’s a guiding force behind The Big Game.

5. Ty Stewart – When Jeffrey Pollack left his post as WSOP Commissioner in November, many industry insiders weren’t surprised. The addition of Mitch Garber (see No. 3) to the WSOP hierarchy was one reason but Stewart, who was originally hired as the Director of Partnership Marketing and is now the Vice President of Harrahs Interactive Entertainment, was ready to take a step up the corporate ladder.

Working alongside Pollack since 2005, Stewart was the driving force behind the numerous corporate sponsors and marketing opportunities that the WSOP managed to attract. Milwaukee’s Best and Jack’s Link both came aboard as presenting sponsors, thanks to Stewart’s efforts. As the brand continues to expand beyond North America and Europe, the opportunity for additional major sponsors continues to grow with Stewart front and center.

4. Howard Lederer – Regardless of whether or not a relationship exists between him and the Full Tilt Poker empire, it’s obvious that Lederer is a decision maker. The former Mayfair Club regular is thought highly upon within the industry for his business acumen as well as his playing ability – a rare combination. With red pro status since Full Tilt was launched, Lederer is also one of the faces of the world’s second largest online poker room.

As a two-time WSOP bracelet winner, the past 14 months away from the table haven’t been without hassle for Lederer. Facing two lawsuits related to his involvement with Full Tilt, Lederer managed to navigate through them relatively unscathed. Lederer did, however, find success at the table in 2009. A win at the Festa al Lago in October came only a month after his two final tables at WSOP Europe, which included his runner-up finish in the £5,000 Limit Omaha event.

3. Mitch Garber – Imagine if WSOP.com was an online poker site? That same thought propelled Garber from off this list to top of this list. The former CEO of PartyGaming took a hop, skip and a jump across the Atlantic, from London to Montreal, when he accepted the job as CEO of Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment. The world’s most prestigious poker tournament is entering a new phase and Garber is top dog now that Jeffrey Pollack has left.

Harrah’s transformation of WSOP.com from a news site to a revenue generating online poker site will rely heavily on the world of experience that Garber gained while at the top of PartyPoker—the world’s largest online poker site at the time. Depending on which rumour you want to believe, Garber may have helped finance the operations as well. While they are currently unable to accept American players, legislation is looming and the European and Asian markets are wide open for player acquisition.

Editor’s Note: Given the murky legality involved in owning an online poker site, the top two names on the “2010 Power 20” both asked to have their names removed from this list and BLUFF accommodated that request.

2. Full Tilt Poker – With a stable full of stars that include some of the biggest names in the world – Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen – Full Tilt Poker is a marketing machine. That, and the fact that the site is seen as the home for nosebleed cash game action, leave weekend warriors and grinders alike drooling. The 18,000 players averaged to be online makes Full Tilt nearly three times as large as the third place room, Party Poker.
Television shows on both sides of the Atlantic (financed by Full Tilt) help further the brand, and being in good graces with them, even if not a member of Team Full Tilt, can mean extra TV time. Sued twice in the last 14 months – first by Clonie Gowen, who claims she was owed an ownership stake, and then by Jason Newitt, who claims he was unjustly dismissed from his job within the company – the machine never missed a beat. The recent high-stakes battle staged by “Isildur1” reportedly drew 300,000 railbirds.

1. PokerStars – Nobody is in control of more poker players at any given minute than the family that owns the PokerStars empire. Through the first week of January 2010, the site was averaging 34,000 online players at any given time and the annual PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Championship Event has the largest field outside of the WSOP Main Event.
With no stockholders to answer to, the company is able to manoeuvre quickly and tackle projects without having to jump through too many hoops. The recent launch of the North American Poker is a perfect example. Taking on live poker tournaments in North America is the last frontier for a company that also sponsors tours in Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America.

There appears to be no limit as to how much bigger PokerStars can become. With US regulation looming, it’s not outside the realm of possibility to see a PokerStars branded, land-based casino in Vegas sooner rather than later.

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