Lee Davy sits down with the PokerStrategy News Editor, Barry Carter, to talk about the modern poker muse, how difficult it is to work from home a few questions on the affiliate side of the business, and much more.
When I win my World Series of Poker bracelet the gratitude list will be fairly substantial, and the name of Barry Carter will be on it.
He told PokerNews to hire me as a live tournament reporter, after being inspired by my writing. An appointment that was critical in my progression.
Back then he was the Editor of PokerNews UK, and today he is the News Editor at PokerStrategy.com, and co-author of the Mental Game of Poker with Jared Tendler.
What’s your opinion on the style of modern poker writing?
“I think there are two camps. There are the people who believe that what we do is journalism, and these people believe there are strict guidelines to what we do, such as good grammar, being objective and stuff like that. I’m thinking of the team at Pokerfuse, and people like Haley Hintze, for example.
“Then there is the other school of thought that says we are not objective. Instead, we are part of the poker community, and it’s much more about improving the image of the game and being entertaining.
“I’m in the school of entertainment. We are not journalists. We exist to make poker interesting and exciting. If we can be informative, and do some good at the same time, then that’s a bonus. But the number one priority is to attract people to poker.
“We live in a world where a lot of our news is generated on Twitter, and 140 characters doesn’t give you much scope to figure out whether something is factual or not. There is a gonzo gorilla style of media these days. Maybe you or I wouldn’t have been able to do this 15-years ago? It’s taken a lot of gatekeepers out of the equation and I’m a fan of that.”
Brand protection or liberal writing?
“At the core I think as long as we are going to get paid by people who put out poker products we have an obligation to protect their brands. If you are independent, and not making money from poker organizations, then you can be unbiased.
“At the end of the day if PokerStars, or iPoker, are paying your bills then I would rather that we still exist as an entity, to be able to write, rather than writing a big expose about that site and quickly losing your ability to earn income.
“I remember when I worked for Poker News. I was so excited to break the story of the Absolute Poker scandal, completely oblivious to the fact that at the time Absolute Poker were one of our biggest sponsors. In hindsight, I revealed a major cheating scandal, but if I would have thought about this a little bit more objectively, I had just bitten the hand that fed me. I’m in the school of thought that we do everything we can to ensure we have an industry to write about in the first place.”
You once said that live tournament reporting can be soul destroying, but it’s the quickest way to make a name for yourself, and the best way to earn a substantial amount of money. Do those thoughts stand true today?
“Absolutely. It’s got to the point now that I feel the live reporters are the real voices of the poker media. When you look at yourself, Chad Holloway, Remko Rinkema, Jess Wellman and Brad Willis. I consider them to be the pokerati of the industry at the moment. They have a real voice. They are the best way that the poker media bridges the gap between the audience and the tops class players.
“If you want to break into the poker industry, as a writer, I can’t think of a better way to do so than to work at a live event. You not only meet the players, but also the people who may potentially hire you.”
What are your biggest challenges each day?
“Language barriers – both with the audience and my colleagues – because we have such a diverse international team. Everything I write has to be easy for a non-native English speaker to read in English, and also be easy to translate into so many different languages.
“This means I have to write in a very standard way. Sometimes, when I feel like a bit of verbal dexterity with challenging, fun and poetic wordage, I can’t. I need to make it easy to understand for a lot of people.”
You mention that you have become slightly introverted since working ostensibly from home.
“I am actually putting the finishing touches to a book on this subject. I have been working from home for nearly a decade, but during my time with PokerNews I would also be traveling a lot. In the past three years I have spent a lot of this time at home, and it’s only the past year that I have come to grips with it.
“You can become a workaholic because you are living at work, and you can also get very lonely. I run my entire life on Google Calendar and I really have to schedule non-work time, and put myself around people, such as going to the gym, working in a coffee shop, or being around friends.
“Getting a dog has also been a big thing for me. It gives you forced breaks; exercise and company, and you inevitably talk to other dog walkers when you are out. Without my dog I think I would have gone insane whilst working from home.”
Not only do I suffer with loneliness, but I am also a workaholic because I am afraid to turn work away in case I lose contracts. Do you suffer from the same thing?
“It’s a popular phenomenon called the fear of missing out. It’s becoming more prevalent because we have such an instant gratification culture. We really think that there is always something better to be doing. For anyone working in a digital industry there is no road map. You don’t know what the next 20-30 years looks like, so when an opportunity comes, you feel like you need to grab it with both hands.
“Tony G was a big supporter of this during my time with PokerNews. I remember he wanted to organize a tournament in Afghanistan, at the height of the troubles, and wanted Doyle Brunson to be the star attraction. I couldn’t think of anything worse than a Stetson wearing American on Afghan soil.”
PokerStrategy has strong affiliate links. How do you predict the online poker affiliate industry will unfold in a regulated US market?
“I think there is a lot of opportunity there. One of the big challenges that European based affiliates have, at the moment, is everyone has a PokerStars account, and invariably that’s where everybody chooses to play.
“In America there is actual competition, so it seems like a good opportunity for the affiliates. That’s my personal view and not an official standpoint from PokerStrategy.”
Your thoughts on Bitcoin poker sites and opportunities for poker affiliates in that niche?
“I am just starting to get my head around Bitcoin. I think it’s too niche at the moment to appeal to recreational players. It’s only the hardcore tech savvy players who are going to understand Bitcoin. The recreational players probably don’t understand it enough to get involved.”
As an affiliate, what’s the difference between dealing with the poker sites that focus on recreational players and sites that don’t?
“In my experience, the sites that don’t focus on recreational players tend to die out a little bit quicker. The ones that have done well have a recreational focus.
“My experience of a very negative one, during my time with PokerNews, was Lock Poker. They just focused on serious players, and were very difficult to deal with, and now we all know why, because they are an incredibly dodgy and troubled site. The sites that focus on recreational players have a better long term vision and are easier to deal with.”
What advice do you have for smaller poker affiliates who want to increase their SEO ranking?
“I would say don’t go after SEO as your primary source of marketing as a way of getting traffic. People can spot when a site is an SEO site. You are much better off going after a particular niche and trying to do something a little bit different.
“I know a bit about SEO, and I know enough to know that it’s not good writing for a human perspective. If I was to give someone SEO advice. I would say stick with the proven strategies that have worked for many years: good titles, keywords, good linking and going after keywords with lower competition; stuff that isn’t affected by the constant changing of the Google algorithm. Stick to the absolute basics.”
