This past summer in July, the Federation Internationale de Poker Association (FIDPA) announced that the Bellagio Cup was the first tournament played under the FIDPA tournament rules. Many of the players wondered what those rules were exactly, so we asked for a copy--none were available.
Now another tournament is underway at Bellagio, this time its the Festa al Lago. Again the FIDPA is creating a lot of publicity about another major tournament operating under the international rules. Again, we asked for a copy of the rules and again--not available.
Interesting, they are using rules for a big poker tournament but no one has a copy of the rules. By the way, Jack McCelland the tournament director at Bellagio and perhaps the most respected TD in the United States is a member of the FIDPA board.
The FIDPA is an organization founded by Marcel Luske and Michelle Lau in 2007, to: "establish a standardized set of rules and procedures that would bring consistency to tournament play, throughout the world." Not a bad idea but we are now seeing another tournament at Bellagio, played under FIDPA rules and we still can't get a copy of the rules. The website FIDPA.com, we were pointed to, does not exist. By the way Marcel Luske also founded the International Poker Federation (IPF) in 2002. Everyone seems to be giving Marcel a pass on performance because he is such a nice guy.
Does the poker world really need yet another group of poker players with no experience at organizational practices making up a name (XYZ) and talking and acting like they are going to do something for "all of poker." We have already seen the limp results from the World Poker Association (WPA) with their executive infighting and tea party poker etiquette rules.
Was there something wrong with the Tournament Director's Association (TDA)? They have strong support, actual printed rules and an open format for discussion and evolution of those rules. Do we need the FIDPA? Does it actually exist or is this just some PR pipedream talked about during long airline flights between international poker events.
So simply question for the FIDPA: Where the hell are these rules?
