Lee Jones is the Poker Room Manager for PokerStars.com. He is also a columnist for Card Player Magazine and the author of Winning Low Limit Hold’em, one of the most popular poker books of all time.
OnlinePokerCenter.com (OPC) interviewed Jones at the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP), and asked Jones why PokerStars players are so successful at the WSOP.
OPC: The last two WSOP champions came from PokerStars: Chris Moneymaker in 2003 and Greg Raymer in 2004. Are we going to have another PokerStars champion this year?
Lee Jones: The possibility is very high. I think 1,116 of our players qualified for the main event. That represents about one fifth of the field.
OPC: Does that mean there is a 20% chance that the champ will be a PokerStars player?
Lee Jones: I think the chance is even greater than that.
OPC: That’s interesting. Some professional players say the success of the online players may have been flukes.
Lee Jones: The PokerStars players are better than the average player. They qualified by winning big tournaments on our website. They have played a lot of tournaments and they have the experience.
OPC: Can online poker experience help in a live tournament?
Lee Jones: Online tournament experience is definitely valuable. It is so easy and convenient to play online that millions of people learn poker in the comfort of their own homes. They can get a ton of experience playing online without the hassle of traveling to a cardroom.
OPC: Why do you think PokerStars is sending more players to the WSOP than any other online poker room?
Lee Jones: PokerStars is known for being the best tournament site and I think our success at the World Series shows that. We have more online tournaments than any other site.
OPC: Has the WSOP increase the popularity of poker?
Lee Jones: The ESPN coverage of the WSOP has definitely increased poker’s popularity.
The explosion in the popularity of poker has been phenomenal, amazing. Just a few years ago there were less than 300 total players in the World Series. Today that number represents just PokerStars’ entries.
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