The Poker Tournament Directors’ Association (TDA) will hold it’s bi-annual Summit on June 29 & 30^th at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Over 125 Poker Tournament Directors will be in attendance at the Summit to debate and vote on proposed rules changes and amendments. The final draft of this legislation will be published by the Board of Directors within approximately one month.

The TDA was founded in 2001 by industry professionals Matt Savage, Jan Fisher, Linda Johnson, and David Lamb. Board Member Matt Savage described the inception of the Association in a recent interview: “… during the 1990’s, poker tournaments were becoming increasingly popular. The problem was every venue had a different set of rules. The players didn’t know what to expect from tournament to tournament…” Linda Johnson remembers the initial challenges the TDA faced: “…The first year the TDA met, it was difficult to adopt rules… everyone supported the idea of standardization as long as it was based on the rules they were using…”

Poker tournament regulation has come a long way since the inception of the TDA. During the past 8 years, the membership has grown to over 1300 tournament staff in 39 countries. Heading into the 2009 Summit, the Association had adopted 40 rules governing the  situations that professional tournament directors face everyday. At this 2009 meeting, the association adopted 4 new rules and amended 19 existing rules. Jan Fisher explains the process: “…basically we discuss the proposed rule change. It’s open to the floor to debate so all opinions are heard… When everyone has had their say we take a vote. If a substantial majority votes yes, it’s approved. If we can’t get a substantial majority approval, it’s not adopted…”

The entire poker industry has changed dramatically in recent years. Matt Savage was Tournament Director for the World Series of Poker in 2003 when an unknown amateur named Chris Moneymaker made history, beating a field of over 800 players and winning $2.5 million in the process. “That was the year that really changed everything.” Savage said, “The popularity of the game just exploded after that”. Reflecting the surging popularity of poker, a record turnout of over 125 Tournament Directors from 90 casinos, leagues, & tour circuits attended the 2009 Summit. The event isn’t all work; 50 attendees competed in a special WSOP “Directors’ Tournament” the first evening. Raffaele De Nicola of Italy claimed first place in this very tough field.

How much progress has been made since the founding of the TDA in 2001? Founding Member Dave Lamb noted an important change in the substance of the 2009 Summit event: “… We categorized the rules for the first time, making access & interpretation a lot easier. Also this Summit was more about clarifying and modifying existing rules than adopting entirely new ones… That’s encouraging because perhaps we’ve reached a turning point and identified the majority of the issues…”

The TDA is an unpaid, volunteer organization. The Summit was made possible by hosting from The Rio Hotel & Casino and sponsorship from Angel Playing Cards. Special thanks to former WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack and Tournament Director Jack Effel for help with innumerable details. Also many thanks to TDA volunteer staffers Douglas Alexander, Chet Frederick, Mike Bishop, Jim and Mylene Leitner, and Randi Levenbaum for their contributions to website development and Summit logistics. Photography courtesy of Devanir Campos and Chet Frederick.

Click here to get the latest info on the 2011 Summit.