Eric Morris, publisher of Bluff Magazine, has been asking to be a Stud of Poker since the column started. In fact, Matt Parvis, Editor-in-Chief, suggested they mud wrestle for stud title. Uh yeah, and Phil Ivey will wear a dress and play a WSOP Ladies Event. Anyway, I finally agreed after we negotiated my family’s use of the Bluff Magazine private jet and nine-bedroom villa in the South of France. Poor guy, looks like I made out like a bandit on the negotiations since he was already on my list to class=”hl”>interview.
Nonetheless, considering the evolution of Bluff Media in the past three years he obviously has skills. What started in 2006 with a SIRIUS Satellite Radio broadcast enabled Bluff to score the official digital media partner title with the World Series of Poker. Skills or not, Morris modestly explains the developments are not just a result of the experience of the past few years but also Bluff Media’s production and broadcasting talent has continued to grow and improve as well.
After Morris took a trip to the trailer washroom, we sat down in the poker kitchen to discuss his fight with a clown, prison poker, selling Bluff Magazine and Doyle’s Room offering him $8,500,000 to play in the 2008 WSOP Main Event in their name.
Eric Morris: I’ve never seen a trailer so nice with bathroom equipment.
Michele Lewis: Well, let’s talk about that… do you spend a lot of time in restroom trailers?
EM: I try not to… that’s actually the first restroom trailer I’ve ever been in… but if more are like that… I might spend more time.
ML: OK, well that’s good to know. So, are Bluff Media and Bluff Magazine separate entities?
EM: No, Bluff Media is the parent company that owns Bluff Magazine, Fight Magazine, the radio production part of the business, the web development side of our business, the licensing.
ML: This is Bluff’s second year heading up the media at the World Series, how’s it going so far?
EM: If anyone were here to see what we’ve done and what we’ve built in terms of the sets that we built for ESPN, for the ESPN 360 broadcast, the radio broadcast that we do , the website… it’s just been a huge undertaking. Going back three years, we did the broadcasting Sirius Satellite… then last year we started the web-stream which is on the World Series of Poker site and this year we’ve moved up to doing it on ESPN 360. Every year our broadcasting talent as well as our talent in terms of production has just gotten better and better. The design of the website has gotten better. I think we’ve kind of set the precedent of what people will expect from poker media.
ML: Tell me more about your relationship with ESPN.
EM: We produce the live final table content that you can watch in real time. Once we produce it, we send a feed through to ESPN 360 so when you see a set out there with Howard David or guest commentators that’s a set we built but we branded it to ESPN 360 because we want to show a nice product. But ESPN will still produce their six final tables which will be shown on ESPN and then we do 24 that will be on ESPN 360. And we will be doing an audio broadcast of the final table (Main Event) in real time which will be streamed on the World Series of Poker website. We have another sponsor, bwin.com, where you can watch it on their site if you are outside the United States.
ML: So, you just got back in town… what do you do while you’re here?
EM: I just make sure everything’s running according to plan… running well. I have meetings with a lot of people in the industry and so forth and also for Fight Magazine. And try to have a little fun as well.
ML: Do you have any new magazines underway?
EM: Well, we’re helping the Food Network with a launch.
ML: Did you say Food Network?
EM: Yeah, totally out of our realm but right now food publications are so hot on the newsstand… We’re lucky to have aligned ourselves with the Food Network… they’re huge.
ML: And now you have a new managing editor, Lance Bradley. How’s that going?
EM: Lance is the man. I mean, he’s awesome. The guy is probably the most responsible person who works for us [laughing] and that includes myself. He’s incredibly loyal, he’s a very talented writer, and we’re lucky to have him and jumped at the opportunity to bring him on board.
ML: Yeah, he’s up there every morning and stays pretty late.
EM: I know that’s why we like him.
ML: So, I’ve heard at your office you really have to be down with sexual harassment to work there…
EM: Yeah, the women seem to sexually harass us all the time. We obviously have to put up with it but you know… it’s all in good taste and we’re not going to prosecute or anything like that. ML: Oh, that’s nice… so, no hard feelings?
EM: No. No hard feelings.
ML: No pun there…
EM: [Laughing] no. No pun. You liked that answer didn’t you.
ML: Yep, I needed something funny. So, you’re playing in the Main Event…
EM: I am.
ML: Who is your sponsor?
EM: Doyle’s Room
ML: Doyle’s Room dot net?
EM: Right, dot net.
ML: I hate asking this question but it’s different for you… do you have a favorite player?
EM: I don’t know if I have a favorite player because I know all of these players so well now… but players I enjoy hanging out with… I really enjoy talking to Phil Laak. I think he’s either the smartest dumb guy or dumbest smart guy I’ve ever met. I really like Joe Sebok a lot; I think he’s just a good guy. In terms of who I appreciate in poker play… Doyle, Phil Ivey, the guys that have been around forever.
ML: Is that the same Doyle from Doylesroom.net?
EM: Yeah, DoylesRoom.net. He’s a legend.
ML: And a Texan.
EM: And he’s a Texan. And so am I.
ML: I didn’t know that.
EM: El Paso, baby. My parents snuck me across the border so I could be legal.
ML: Really.
EM: Morris-etes. Can’t you see the Spanish influence in that name?
ML: I’m not seeing it. I always thought Morris was Italian.
EM: Yeah, no really… I was born in El Paso.
ML: So, do you get a lot of solicitation from people wanting to work for Bluff?
EM: We get a lot. We get some from other magazines; we get a lot in the poker industry from other websites. We can’t hire everybody.
ML: But don’t you get a lot from just random people that are just players?
EM: Oh, we get a lot that are like… “I’m an aspiring poker player and I won my bar league tournament and wanted to know if you wanted to put me in the Main Event” we get a lot of those. Or “do you want to sponsor me because I’m going to start touring with the WPT or WSOP Circuit and I’ve won 6k this year.”
ML: Really?
EM: The best one was a guy in prison. He loved the magazine and wanted to write an article on… oh… what was it…
ML: How to play poker in prison… for dummies?
EM: Ha, right, we would have probably let him done that. No, he wanted to write a series of articles on prison poker. And I actually liked the idea until he sent over the first story… and it was… it was just unreadable. So, we didn’t use it. I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of poker you play when you’re only making 25 cents an hour. You know, playing for matches and cigarettes.
ML: That would be an interesting read… or a plastic knife.
EM: Yeah, top bunk.
ML: There was a rumor you (Bluff) were sold. But you weren’t… what’s on the record about that situation?
EM: Basically … we did a licensing deal for the magazine to be produced in Asia. And I think somehow people heard we did some deal and it was done to sell Bluff which was totally not the case. Then I heard rumors it was 10 million dollars and I just kind of laughed. I said “well, maybe 60 million” and it was all in jest. I don’t know how it got out there but yeah, I fielded quite a few phone calls on that. I can say with 100% it’s not true.
ML: How did you hear about the rumor?
EM: I think… someone from another website heard about it at a poker table and then they called us. It’s funny because I was the last to know. I’m always the last to know that we’re selling!
ML: I read somewhere that you were afraid of midgets or excuse me… little people if you will.
EM: Yeah, this is true.
ML: So then you’re not going to have a column in Fight?
EM: No midget wrestlers, no midget fighters. I mean, I’m not afraid to see them on T.V. but if… well, let me just say this… some people will ask me “why are you afraid of midgets?” And I’m like… “Well, you can’t help what your fears are so what are you afraid of?” And they will say “spiders” and I’ll say “well, midgets are bigger, right? They can do a lot more damage to you.” I can’t control it… but I was actually semi-attacked by a clown midget when I was young so I think that’s what triggered it.
ML: Really?
EM: It’s the truth, we were at the circus and I was already scared of clowns… since I was like… five. I don’t know if you remember back in the day they used to have these horrible oil paintings of clowns.
ML: Yes! Those 70’s paintings, I know exactly what you’re talking about.
EM: Yeah, they were horrible and for some reason my parents tortured me by hanging one up in my room that I made them take down and turn around every night when I went to bed, right? So, I was terrified of clowns to begin with… so we were at the circus and a midget clown came up to me in the audience and threw water on me. I was like f*** that I’m out of here.
ML: That’s awesome, can I print that?
EM: Yep.
ML: OK, any other rumors going on you want to clarify?
EM: Let’s see… can I make up a rumor?
ML: Sure.
EM: I’m just trying to think of a good one to make up… I’ll have to get back to you on a made up rumor. But I will say we just launched Club Bluff. That’s where you pay a monthly fee to play all of our tournaments and we do over 100k a month in tournaments. You’re paying to be a part of the community and you can play anything you want… we have special tournaments where we give out boot camp seats for the WPT or WSOP Academy, cash and cruises. We’re talking about doing a tournament where we’ll fly to people to the Bluff party that will be in Conjunction with Doyle’s Room that will be July 2nd. People can win airfare, hotel, and limo service to the party where they can hobnob with all the pros.
ML: How much is it a month?
EM: It’s 19.99 a month; if you go onto the Bluff site we have a 14 day free trial. And it’s legal in most states so you can use credit card or PayPal.
ML: That’s cool. So anything exciting coming up?
EM: I’m still trying to think of a rumor. Maybe the rumor is… that Doyle’s Room is paying me 8.5 million dollars to play in their name. They are so confident that I’m going to win the Main Event that they’ve negotiated this deal.
ML: They are? That’s really cool. Are you going to give them a free year of Club Bluff for that deal?
EM: No, a free year of Bluff Magazine but I made him pay for the one where he’s (Doyle Brunson) on the cover. I autographed for him too.
ML: Wow, 8.5 million to play for them…. You know, I’m still looking to get sponsored.
EM: Well, with 8.5 million dollars, I’m uh… I’m uh…
ML: You’re really trying hard to think of something funny aren’t you?
EM: I’m trying hard to figure something out here… well, they haven’t given me the money yet.
ML: The check is in the mail.
EM: Yeah! The check is in the mail.
Suddenly John Caldwell, of PokerNews, appears… and shares what it’s like working with Morris. According to Caldwell “Eric is like Charleston, North Carolina. Most of the time, he’s calm, serene, beautiful and historic but five to seven times a year, a wind comes blowing in from the East that just destroys everything in its path. That’s what working with Eric Morris is like.”
EM: I don’t know what he’s talking about.
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