Column: Dusk Till Dawn Rescues the International Stadiums Poker Tour

Long-time ISPT critic Barry Carter reflects on this week's news of UK poker club Dusk Till Dawn partnering with the ISPT and guaranteeing €1 million for the winner.

Rob Yong

I am starting to think if Rob Yong told me Santa Claus was real, I'd believe him.

This week Dusk Till Dawn shocked the poker world by bailing out the International Stadiums Poker Tour.

By guaranteeing €1 million to the winner, DTD owner Rob Yong has renewed interest in an event nobody thought could, or wanted to, work.

I myself have been highly critical of the ISPT, and I don't take back a word of it, they literally made every business mistake they could possibly make in the build up to this week's announcement.

However, in one fell swoop, DTD has given this event a chance of success. If the tournament does go well, it will be entirely down to DTD, and DTD alone.

Dusk Till Dawn introduce credibility

Dusk Till Dawn

For those of you outside the UK, the quick back story on DTD:

It really is the greatest card room in the world, it is more responsible for the growth of UK poker in the last five years than anything else, and they stick to their word when it comes to guarantees.

They have raised the bar for UK live poker by hosting huge tournaments with huge guarantees. Many times they have broken the UK & European attendance record as a result, and also many a time they have fallen short and had to pay out a big overlay.
 
Everyone in poker is now asking can DTD make the concept work? I'm starting to think that DTD taking up this challenge is a genius move whether it works or not.

DTD have firmly conquered the UK poker market, of that there is no doubt, but they have never been a global brand. However, this year they ventured outside the UK with a highly praised event in the Caribbean. It seems that was a sign of things to come.

Global expansion

The ISPT press conference

Ultimately one of three things will happen at the ISPT now DTD are involved:

1. The event will be a huge success, and overnight DTD and Rob Yong become major players in world poker.

2. The event becomes a modest success, DTD have to foot the bill for a partial overlay, but they are praised for nearly getting there. DTD and Rob Yong become big players in world poker.

3. The event is a huge failure and DTD pay a big overlay. DTD and Rob Yong become even more loved for trying something huge, and the DTD brand is at least on the world map.

People are talking about can this work? I don't think it matters if it does or not. Regardless of the outcome, this is actually a brilliant first step in the potential global expansion of the DTD brand. They are going to leverage the monumental amount of negative publicity the ISPT created and turn it on its head.

A rival to the big three?

Wembley Stadium

Give it two years, and DTD could be a rival to the EPT, WPT and WSOP, with events all around the world. Everyone will want to play the events run by the crazy guys who rescued the ISPT and pay on their guarantees, and will travel a long way to do it.

All of which is probably more than worth the million they might have to pay out at Wembley.

Will it meet the guarantee? I fear it may be a little too late in the day, but it could come very close.

If they started this event from scratch, they are one of two players in the UK who probably could have made the original concept a success (The other being PokerStars).

I still don't believe in the concept of the ISPT. I don't believe the event in itself could be a massive commercial success. But I do believe in DTD. I believe in Rob Yong. And if he tells me to, I'll believe in Santa Claus too.

Images courtesy of Blondepoker who are also the official media channel of the ISPT.

By Barry Carter

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