CAESARS UK AT THE WSOP
engagement at its finest
hand. It’s not way out there, certainly not one of the worst hands, and it gives the players an added incentive to qualify for our WSOP promotion.
CI: Sarah indicated that this has come about because of your personal investment in it as a member of the Empire team… RL: I’m fortunate enough to be in a position where I am very, very passionate about what I do. I play poker in my spare time and it’s something I really enjoy, and that gives me an insight into the dynamic of how the game works. For me, the World Series of Poker is an absolute dream; but being a recreational kind of player, I wouldn’t be playing the high stakes games. 1-2 is probably the biggest field of players you will see in London, you would have more players playing that than on higher stakes gameas – but playing in the World Series is something absolutely unreachable for me, and for me, I just wanted to make the dream a reality for our customers. Had it been a reality for me while I was playing, I know it would make the Empire a choice of venue for me. I can’t express how much of a dream the WSOP is for a regular poker player, it’s almost like being an amateur footballer and playing in the World Cup, playing against Ronaldo and Messi.
SS: We are hugely fortunate to have people at the Empire poker room that genuinely love what they do and are creative in the things they put together. The thing that makes the card room successful is the passion the card room team has. They’re part of the community, they have their finger on the pulse, they know the players, they have empathy. We have had poorly performing poker rooms, and we have had strong performers like the Empire and it always comes down to the passion of the people that run it.
CI: It’s interesting when you look at it like that, the different levels of focus each casino gives to its poker room. It can tell you a lot about their approach to a customer, in a way. SS: Casinos are an ecosystem. You need things to make sure the atmosphere is right, that there is the right feeling in a
property – and poker players are a big part of that. CI: Rommel, it’s fair to say when your winners get their place, they are quite happy – what level of contact do you have with them between winning the seat and playing the seat?
Do you prepare them at all, coach them? SS: It’s a team thing and they are all in it together. RL: Before the trip and flight, we have events so the team can all meet before we fly. This happens about a week before,
DECEMBER 2019 37
Team Empire: BACK ROW: Sundeep, Tom, Chris, Fabio,
Alvin, Mr C, Conor. MIDDLE ROW: Ed, Tzenato, Joost, Ben,
Robert, Jason, Shimon. FRONT:
Micky, Rommel
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