Some Quick Thoughts on Zynga PokerCon

Zynga is a name that many people don't know. It's the company behind several popular Facebook games, including Mafia Wars, Farmville and Zynga Poker. It's also the name of the company that hosted its first ever live-poker event at the Palms this past weekend, a two-day convention called Zynga PokerCon.

I didn't attend PokerCon because I'm a big fan of virtual goods or play-money poker or even Facebook. I attended because Zynga Poker has become the 800-pound gorilla in the poker industry room. Zynga holds itself out as "the world's largest online poker room" (37 million total players; 7.6 million players daily) and speculation has been rampant in the industry about Zynga's future business plans. Also the convention featured a $125 turbo tournament with a $100,000 prize pool that was capped at 500 players. Overlay!

I wasn't the only industry member whose curiosity was piqued by PokerCon. A very wide cross-section of "insiders" attended the two-day soiree, all with the same basic question: What is Zynga up to? What does Zynga hope to get out of this event?

The answer isn't any clearer after PokerCon than it was before.

At time the convention felt like it was transporting us all back to poker circa 2006. At other times it felt like a Star Trek convention (I presume -- I am not nearly geeky enough to have ever been to a Star Trek convention), and at still other times it felt like a bit of a flop. Throughout, Zynga's angle was never clear.

With PokerStars taking the lead on Nevada intrastate regulation (as reported by the Las Vegas Sun and noted by Wicked Chops), I'm content to put this one on the back burner for now. It's unlikely Zynga will contribute to any regulatory efforts. Until those efforts bear fruit Zynga is likely to remain in the back corner of the room, making everyone else slightly edgy by its mere presence.