Recently, the World Poker Association (WPA), which seeks to provide standardization to many aspects of live poker tournaments, announced that political consultant and poker player Nancy Todd Tyner is the newest member of its Board of Directors. Based in Las Vegas, Tyner brings an important political perspective to the organization, which was founded by Jesse Jones.
Tyner was the winner of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Ladies Championship during Season VI, taking home $68,000 in the process, vaulting her name into the forefront of the industry. On the game’s popularity, Tyner told Poker News Daily, “It’s interesting to see the number of people who follow and watch it. I was in the movie theater and trying to use the Fandango. I said over my shoulder, ‘Sorry, I can’t do machines.’ Someone said, ‘Ask her a poker question!’” Tyner chuckled and reveled in her new-found glory.
As a new face in the world of poker, Tyner can easily comprehend what the WPA is striving to achieve. She commented, “I agree with what they’re doing. I think some uniformity would be great. What the WPA is trying to do is important for poker. Someone coming in from the outside can see that poker tournaments are a mish-mash. If you’re a new player like I am, it’s difficult.” Tyner logged her first three World Series of Poker (WSOP) cashes in 2008, highlighted by a 24th place finish in a $2,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament for $14,000. That event, incidentally, was won by Matt Keikoan.
Outside of poker, Tyner is on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Political Consultants. Readers of Casino Journal can find a monthly column by her entitled “The Politics of Gaming.” Political discussions have taken the WPT champion to the John F. Kennedy School of Government, George Washington University, Georgetown University, and Vanderbilt University, among others.
Joining Tyner on the Board will be newcomers Tom Franklin and John “The Greek” Leontakianakos. The Board will be charged with rallying the industry, including casinos, poker tours, and players, under the WPA banner. Tyner explained, “They’re hungry for it. There’s not a player out there who doesn’t understand that we need it. It’s one of the reasons that the membership is where it is. Casinos are slow. They tend to compete best with the guy across the street, which may or may not be conducive to uniformity.” The WPA cites differences in payout structures, blind levels, and starting chip stacks (even across major poker tours) as reasons that standardization is critical.
On the new WPA Board of Directors put in place by Jones, Tyner told Poker News Daily, “Franklin brings the player side to it. I bring the political experience. If Jones continues to feel well, he’ll stay in.” Jones, whose health problems led him to seeking out new Board members in the first place, founded the WPA in 2005. In July, the organization’s old Board of Directors resigned following former Chairman Wendeen Eolis’ decision to become a political consultant during the battle for the Presidency between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama.
She has authored a variety of casino-related articles, including those relating to gambling in states such as Arizona and Utah, as well as a variety of articles concerning the online variety. In a 2002 article, written four years prior to the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in the United States, she correctly stated that any anti-internet gambling law would need to be “attached to other bills pertaining to terrorism or money laundering” in order to become law. The UIGEA was ultimately attached to the SAFE Port Act and overwhelmingly passed through Congress. Its engine, then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), is no longer on Capitol Hill.
Tyner told Poker News Daily that the first WPA Board conference call is scheduled for later this month.
