Chatting with Bluff Magazine

 This is an interview I had done with Bluff Magazine publisher Eric Morris back in February of 07. I hope you enjoy it today as much as folk did back on the old site . I've been slowing moving some of the past interviews here to the new site.

Today we have with us Bluff Magazine owner and publisher Eric Morris . Bluff Magazine in my opinion is the best all around poker mag that you will find on the market these days...

1. Eric, what was it that inspired you to start a poker magazine?

I have been involved in the gambling industry since 1998 when I created and launched the first publication dedicated to Online Gambling. The name of the magazine is Gambling Online Magazine, which I ran until June of 2005. Up until 2003 the majority of my advertisers were online casinos and sportsbooks. Online poker rooms maybe made up 2% of my advertising base. However in 2003 I noticed that many of the casino and Sportsbook operators were starting to promote their poker rooms over the other properties. Pretty soon over 50% of my advertising base was made up of the online poker rooms. I started to do some research and realized that there was really only one poker publication in the market and it addresses a more sophisticated audience and not the mainstream, which is a group I felt had the most potential to compete and succeed in the market place. From there my partner and I decided the best way forward was to publish a poker lifestyle magazine that would accomplish reaching the more recreational player.

2. You've had some great interviews with some of the greatest players of all time, Doyle Brunson's being one of my favorites. Who would you say is the most laid back one you've done?

Good question, I would have to say Phil (The Unabomber) Laak was one of my favorites as he is very approachable and has had a very interesting life. He is also one of the strangest poker players I have met, which made the interview that much better.

3. Do you see the laws in the port security bill hurting poker overall or just the online sites?

 I am not sure if it will hurt poker over all, but it will definitely hurt the majority of the poker publication being published today. Most of the other poker titles have had a significant decrease in ad revenue as they have been too reliant on the .com money. Now that it has dried up they have to cut both circulation and total pages printed, which is a pre curser to worse things to come. Bluff Media is not just a poker publication, but rather a full multi media company which includes 2 other non poker publications, a nationally syndicated radio show, various websites, content deals with two industry giants (ESPN.com and ASKMEN.com) and the exclusive digital media rights for the WSOP. We will also be coming out with web based TV content and some other unique products.

4. What would you suggest that online players need to do?

This is a pretty ambiguous question. As of now the biggest need is for ALL online poker players to join the Poker Players Alliance, which is the only real voice and lobbying group we have to try and amend the Unlawful Gaming Act passed last Oct 13th.

5. Any big news coming up from Bluff Magazine that we should look out for?

Yes, we will be launching the “Coolest Thing Ever,” which is a product all online poker players will want to use. I would suggest visiting www.bluffmagazine.com to find out more about the product as it would be quite lengthy for me to explain here. We will also have some news to share regarding the WSOP, so visit our site and stay tuned.

Well Eric, I want to wish you continued success in all that you do and thanks for providing such a great magazine. For those that would like to visit Eric's myspace page Click Here .

About Bluff Magazine :
Bluff Magazine is America's Largest Poker Magazine with 250,000 copies printed and distributed nationwide. Bluff's 191,000 newsstand copies and 60,000 event, location, and subscription copies gets Bluff into the hands of poker enthusiasts eager to keep up with the fast-paced modern poker lifestyle. Regular contributors to Bluff Magazine include: Jennifer Tilly, Marcel Luske, Josh Arieh, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, and Annie Duke.

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