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Social Director: Recommended Reading

Topics: Epic Poker League, Social Director, Twitter

PokerListings offered up an article at the beginning on December listing the "Top 10 Biggest Social Media Players in Poker" based on the Klout.com ranking system. There was little commentary but it provided the spark to begin an interesting conversation about those in poker with real impact on social media. I'm not certain what mind bending algorithm Klout uses for their ranking but there are some glaring issues. Any top ten list that includes Phil Ivey, who hasn't tweeted since April 14th, needs some tweaking.

After reading the list, and the backlash which followed, I contacted a few friends in the industry with an intentionally vague request. "Name your poker top ten in social media and why." I was not necessarily looking for a real Top Ten ranking but more a composite list of ten poker-related accounts worth following. There are plenty of people who will be missed but I think we hit all the high points.

The first two people I asked were the stars of the Jess and BJ Show, Jess and BJ. BJ Nemeth is vocal on Twitter about any and all things, except for a few weeks in December when he was involved in a "stay off Twitter the longest" bet with Kathy Liebert. Jess Welman is the managing editor at Bluff Magazine, on the WPT Live Update Team, regular Epic contributor, and sometimes mortal enemy of BJ. Both lists were very similar with only a few minor deviations like picking @WSOPTD over @WSOP.

The next person I contacted was prevented from casting a self-vote, yet ended up on every list anyway. Kevin @Kevmath Mathers stayed along the same basic line except he included Dr. Pauly @taopauly, from such top blogs as Tao of Pauly, Tao of Poker, Tao of Bacon and the critically acclaimed novels Lost Vegas and Jack Tripper Stole My Dog. Unfortunately he does not pass the "BJ Nemeth Poker-only" test but is worthy of Honorable Mention.

Finally I hit up the King of All (Poker) Social Media, Jay @WhoJedi Newnum, for his thoughts. WhoJedi is responsible for bringing many poker players into the warm embrace of social media including the hugely successful Matt Savage Facebook Fan Page and has unique perspective. If there is a question on how to use Twitter/Facebook/Google+/LinkedIn/MySpace, then Jedi is the man to see.

I took their suggestions and put together a completely unscientific, subjective Top Ten List of Twitter accounts we recommend following. This collection is not meant to rank, it is merely a starting point.

Poker Players:

@RealKidPoker - There are few in poker who embrace social media like Negreanu. He can be polarizing but never vague with his opinions on whichever subject he takes up. He is also willing to debate his point with anyone on Twitter whether that person has 10 followers or 1,000,000.

@MattGlantz - From BJ Nemeth: To me, this slot could be filled by a couple of different top poker players (including @JasonMercier and @themouthmatusow), depending on your personal preference. I chose Matt Glantz, who plays the big major tournaments, the high-stakes cash games, and speaks his mind (tweets his mind?) with a sense of humor. Glantz isn't an A-list poker pro like Negreanu or Hellmuth, and he's still looking for a major tournament victory -- but it's coming, and it's probably coming soon. He tweets back-and-forth with a lot of other top players, but you won't see pics of him partying it up in the nightclubs -- Matt Glantz is a family man.

@BrokeLivingJRB - Why should you follow an admittedly broke poker player? The comedy of the feed along with the "do not do as I do" aspect of it. From Kevmath: If you can get past his RTs of any post that mentions him, his constantly updated bankroll situation gives hope to non-ballers everywhere that they too could live the dream.

Poker Insiders:

@SavagePoker - From BJ Nemeth: Matt Savage is one of the top tournament directors in the world, though if he reads this he'll immediately ask me why I didn't come right out and call him #1. Well, an argument can be made that he's the best TD in the world, and on Twitter, he'll answer just about any tournament rules question people come up with. Even if you already have a good handle on the TDA rules (Tournament Director's Association, which he helped start back in 2001), it's interesting to read the different scenarios players come up with, and Savage's answers. Savage seems to somehow work multiple tournaments at a time, so even though this is his personal Twitter account, even his personal tweets usually tie back to poker in some way.

@WSOPTD - Jack Effel has one of the busiest jobs in the industry, directing the biggest tournament series on the planet, but still manages to find time in his busy schedule with communicate to the masses. He will answer questions, tournament rulings, and address problems as they are brought up. On several occasions during the WSOP, if he was unable to fix issues via Twitter, he would find the player in person to correct the situation if possible. A perfect example of using social media to communicate and work with your audience and "customers".

@ScurrilousMay (Jesse May) - Jesse May is known around the poker world as one of the more unique voices in the industry. From his writing to his on-air commentary, it's tough to ignore his message. He can be brutally honest and insanely funny but will rarely miss the mark.

Poker Resources:

@ESPN_Poker - While technically a "corporate" Twitter feed for the ESPN flagship, it is run solely by ESPN.com's Poker Editor Andrew Feldman. This gives it more of a personal feel for the "World Wide Leader" and he does a great job of addressing all aspects of poker which appeal to hardcore fans as well as the casual observer.

@BluffMagazine - From WhoJedi: Bluff Magazine has been an industry leader in bringing it's reader the most up to the minute poker content from around the globe. They have extended that to their @BluffMagazine Twitter account by providing links to their event recaps on a regular basis. You can get updates and results from almost every event that is running without worrying about having your Twitter timeline filled with non-newsworthy info. They provided exactly what you are looking for in a no nonsense format.

@WPTLiveUpdates - From BJ Nemeth: I'm obviously biased because I'm on the team, but WPT Live Updates runs the best Twitter account in poker for following live tournaments. When there isn't a WPT tournament going on, this Twitter account falls silent -- as it should. When a WPT tournament begins, the tweets slowly ramp up, providing information without bombarding followers with relatively meaningless Day 1 action. As the tournament goes deeper (and grows more interesting), the account gets more active -- providing more information when it really matters. This feed is designed for one thing -- following the action in WPT tournaments -- and it doesn't dilute the experience by branching into other areas (articles, etc.).

@Kevmath - While it has been proven to be incorrect, I still imagine Kevmath in a secret underground bunker hooked up to endless monitors grabbing everything poker related off the internet. Last year he came from behind the keyboard into the public eye but he's still the go-to-guy for immediate poker knowledge. Top poker players are often asking him questions ("What's my table/seat assignment!") and links for the latest news. He does a great job in the 140 character medium as well as daily updates now for AVPoker.

Kevmath Central?


Those are just 10 of the names my unofficial poll listed but plenty others are out there. Twitter has become a great medium for the casual poker fan to connect with the bigger names in the game, players to communicate with the world about their game, and anyone involved with poker to stay abreast of current news. We don't expect everyone to agree and feel free to add to the list in the comments below or respond to our Twitter account @EpicPoker.

Honorable Mentions:

@taopauly - Dr. Pauly is an original, worth following for any reason including poker.
@KaraOTR - Kara Scott, ESPN's WSOP Live Update reporter, bacon lover.
@Erik_Seidel - The Seiborg, $6.5m earned in 2011, comedic gold on Twitter.
@AllenKessler - Sometimes frustrating, never dull, always questioning status quo.
@WSOP - The main WSOP Twitter accounts for updates during all WSOP-related events.
@PokerKat - Kathy Liebert, world-class poker player, occasional sport bettor.