Staffing a Party Poker MILLIONS Event

So how does a live poker festival like the Party Poker MILLIONS Malta actually operate? What do all the staff do and what are their main responsibilities? I asked Robert De Niro and he came back with this, before smashing my hand with a jackhammer and throwing me out into the alley behind the casino:

Since the players are looking to beat the other players, the players are watching the other players. The dealers are also watching the players. The floor persons are watching the dealers. The tournament director (TD) is watching the floor persons. The poker room manager is watching the TD. The casino manager is watching the poker room manager. And the eye in the sky is watching us all.

Well, there’s actually a lot more to it than that. From a player perspective, the casino staff, massage therapists, bar staff, registrations team, dealers, floor staff and the TD are very visible to you but there’s also a whole host of people working in the background.

There’s the TV team, who set up and operate the live stream, including an editor, a floor manager, commentators and presenters. There’s an operations manager and staffing manager. There’s also photographers, a videographer, a social media manager, a media coordinator (me), player liaison managers, event coordinators and probably many more roles that I may forgotten to mention.

Before the event gets anywhere near the venue there’s work to be done at back at HQ to schedule the event, set up satellites, create webpage content and integrate its all into the the Party Poker client and supporting website.

And overseeing this whole operation is Antonio Sapio, the event manager, who has postponed the most vital human requirement – sleep – for several weeks now to ensure the festival runs as smoothly as possible. You would think that he would now rest and recover, but that’s just not his style, he’ll be hard on it again tomorrow preparing for Party Poker MILLIONS Irish Festival, which takes place in Dublin from 31st October – 5th November. It starts on Halloween and ends will end with fireworks on Guy Fawkes Day and we’d love for you to join us!

Photos from the event can be found here

Photography by Jean Marc Zerafa

Jonathan Raab

Party Poker MILLIONS Malta Media Coordinator