Adelson woos tournament directors

Las Vegas Sands owner Sheldon Adelson is one of the online poker industry’s biggest detractors, but that hasn’t stopped his Venetian casino in Las Vegas from making an offer the organisers of this year’s Tournament Directors Association conference couldn’t refuse….comped conference areas, audio/visual equipment and reduced hotel rates for conference attendees.

Matt Savage, who chairs the TDA board, had to explain the rationale behind choosing Adelson’s property this week following a social networking furore over his earlier announcement that the 2015 conference would take place at the Venetian on June 16-17.

He explained that the favourable deal offered by the Venetian meant that the conference could be presented to members of the Association free of charge, and that delegates could as a result keep their expenses down.

That didn’t placate just about everyone from former WSOP champ Ryan Riess to Daniel Negreanu, who took to the forums with generally scathing remarks; Negreanu suggesting it was an early April Fool’s Day joke.

Alexandre Dreyfus of Global Poker Index, stepped into the row, tweeting that under the circumstances holding the conference at the Venetian was not a good idea, and committing his company to making a contribution to the conference costs.

It’s a reasonable escape route for the TDA, and discussions are reportedly now taking place.