Earlier this week, the World Poker Tour (WPT) moved to solidify its leadership staff with the hiring of noted tournament director Matt Savage.
The WPT stated that Savage will assume the newly created role of Executive Tour Director. This position, according to the WPT release, will place Savage as the liaison between the organization and the players, with Savage in the position to improve such areas as player communication, tournament offerings, tour cohesiveness, and growth of the WPT. With its ninth season set to begin on July 11th with the Bellagio Cup VI in Las Vegas, the WPT is looking to make the tour and schedule one of the best in the tournament poker world.
“Matt is one of the world’s foremost experts on poker tournaments,” said Steve Heller, the Chief Executive Officer of the WPT. “Matt’s expertise and relationships in the poker community will greatly enhance our upcoming ninth season.” Savage himself stated during the announcement, “I am excited about this opportunity to work with WPT as their Executive Tour Director. The World Poker Tour is one of the most respected and recognizable brands in poker and I am happy to be a part of its efforts to improve tournament poker for players, fans and casinos.” Savage encourages anyone who has concerns, thoughts, or ideas for the WPT to contact him.
Savage’s new responsibilities with the WPT shouldn’t affect his numerous directing capacities. On Twitter, in response to a question from a follower, Savage affirmed that he will still handle the overseeing of his tournaments in San Jose and Los Angeles as well as the upcoming Detox Poker Series at the Hard Rock. The Detox Poker Series will play out from August 13th to 22nd in Las Vegas while the WPT stop at the Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California is playing.
The response from the poker community has been overwhelmingly in support of the addition of Savage to the WPT’s leadership. Many players, such as UB.com’s Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Christian Harder, Alex Outhred, and DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit “amak316” Makhija have Tweeted their congratulations to someone who knows both sides of the table. When he isn’t running tournaments, Savage is known to step to the felt to take part in the action. When asked on Twitter which one he would rather be – a top professional poker player or the top tournament director in the game – Savage responded, “One is attainable (for me) and the other is not! I’ll stick to what I am best at.”
Savage has been a part of WPT action before, but never in an official capacity. He has been the longtime tournament director at Bay 101 and its WPT event, the Shooting Star No Limit Hold’em bounty event. This year, he added in duties at the Commerce Casino’s L.A. Poker Classic. These are but a few of the highlights of what has been a remarkable career officiating the action on the felt.
Savage has appeared on more than 300 televised poker shows on nearly every outlet that poker has appeared on like Fox Sports Net, the Travel Channel, GSN, and ESPN. He has also officiated tournaments overseas, such as Asian Poker Tour stops in Macau, and once was the tournament director of the World Series of Poker. He was also the host of a nationally televised show called “Inside Poker” and performed as an actor in the poker movie “Lucky You.” One of the founders of the Tournament Directors Association, Savage was also a recipient of the inaugural Benny Binion Award for outstanding service in the poker industry.
