Will Trump's tariffs hurt the WSOP?
Live poker has been on the up for years, but will Donald Trump cause the first big decline in WSOP fields in years?
I try and steer away from world politics as much as possible on this site, but sometimes things happen you can't ignore.
The World Series of Poker has enjoyed a rally since COVID lockdowns ended, boasting many record breaking fields in recent years.
But there is a lot of talk about whether Donald Trump's aggressive tariff plans, or at least the threat of them (they are paused at the time of writing) will harm the attendance this year. Both for travelling players and Americans alike.
I'm no expert on the economy, but I have been around poker during several 'once-in-a-lifetime' economic events, including the 2008 financial crash, Black Friday and COVID. So I have a few thoughts.
Gambling does well in recessions
I personally know a few players who are skipping the WSOP this year, but for the most part in my experience, gambling does well as an industry when the rest of the world is suffering economically.
The 2008 crash didn't stop us from playing poker, Black Friday didn't and if anything poker boomed during COVID (online) and afterwards live.
Maybe it's because we all have a "how much worse could it get?" attitude that we play poker more. I am not sure of the reason, but historically poker has not mirrored the wider economy in this regard.
Being (or at least, feeling) poorer
Having said that, there is something very tangible when you see stories like this. It makes all of us feel poorer and the tariffs in particular will be incredibly off-putting to international travellers.
Whether they go ahead or not it looks like they will impact the cost of travel, long term.
The WSOP is soon enough that it may not impact it as much as it later will, but for now at least, America is going to seem a lot more expensive and a lot less welcoming to a lot of players outside of it (even if it isn't).
So while I don't think the hardcore WSOP regulars will be remotely impacted and I suspect Americans will show up in defiance, there will be thousands of international players who were on the fence about going who might skip it this year.
I still think poker will thrive as it has been doing generally, but I'd bet on most of the fields to be down on last year's WSOP.
Will the WSOP be hurt by the tariffs? Let us know in the comments:
