We have come to a conclusion about what this game should be

Big name pros are aligning themselves with the World Poker Association (WPA) as it stakes its claim to be the international governing body of worldwide tournament poker.

Barry Greenstein, Kenna James, Phil Hellmuth and The Hendon Mob’s Joe Beevers and Barny Boatman are among the first players to sign up to support WPA founder Jesse Jones, a cancer survivor and consummate poker pro, who has cashed out over Top stars get behind governing body’s bid to standardise the game’s rules, ethics and player ranking system 0,000 playing in tournaments since 2003. Jones has set up the not-for-profit organisation in an attempt to create the poker equivalent of football’s FIFA or golf’s PGA, which also paves the way for poker to become an official Olympic sport.

Jones explained: ‘The [WPA’s] goal is to unite all tournament poker entities to establish standardised rules, codes of ethics and conduct, and an international ranking system for players.’

Jones added: ‘Right now the standards are chaotic. It’s like a football team travelling from stadium to stadium and playing different rules every time. One time there could be seven players on the field and another time 11. That’s what poker players face on a daily basis.’

The WPA has the ambitious aim of gathering together 10,000 individual members and 50 organisational members by this time next year. As well as inviting both amateur and pro players to join, Jones recognises the importance of getting the big poker tours and tournament directors on board. Monte Carlo Millions and PartyPoker.com Million V tournament director Matt Savage is one mover and shaker that’s already signed on the dotted line.

Big boys

While the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the World Poker Tour (WPT) may make the big bucks with tournament buy-ins and lucrative TV deals the chances of them uniting purely for the good of the game is slim. Let’s face it, they’ve got enough on their hands as it is.

But Jones told PokerPlayer that although he’s yet to have any official conversations with the major tours he believes they’re odds on to join. Jones said: ‘If we really want to elevate poker to its rightful place alongside golf, baseball, football, soccer and all the other great sports we love, we have to come to a conclusion about what this game should be. I think the benefit [to the WPT, WSOP and EPT] is immense.’

The WPA will operate a ‘one voice, one vote’ policy where every member will hold a single vote giving you a shout as loud as any Vegas casino (apparently). So let’s get together and ban novelty sunglasses. After all, surely Greg Raymer’s good enough now that he doesn’t need to wear those bloody lizard specs any more.