ALL IN, poker's premier magazine, has become
one of America's fastest growing titles. With over
50 million poker players in America and 5 networks
covering America's newest pastime, the
entrepreneur behind ALL IN has entered the market
at the perfect time.
Seattle - July 28, 2004 -- As everyone now knows,
Texas Holdem poker is the hottest craze in the
country with 5 television networks including ESPN,
FOX, and NBC committed to coverage of America’s
classic card game. In the midst of this poker
boom, 27-year old publisher Bhu Srinivasan
launched ALL IN, which has since become poker’s
leading magazine.
According to some industry sources, ALL IN is
perhaps the fastest growing new magazine in
America. Launched at the World Series of Poker
with the appropriately named Chris Moneymaker on
the cover, the premiere issue of ALL IN flew off
the shelves and is now one of poker’s most sought
after collectibles.
Srinivasan, a former dot-com entrepreneur, first
started toying with the idea of starting a
Texas Holdem
poker magazine during Thanksgiving weekend and
began making calls to research the market.
However, the lack of available research and his
inability to find a single poker magazine on
newsstands brought the idea closer to the
forefront.
Finally, on Super Bowl Sunday, NBC featured a
Texas Holdem
poker championship opposite the Super Bowl pregame
show. “When that happened, it just hit me. I
dropped everything to start ALL IN the very next
day,” said Srinivasan describing his epiphany.
Srinivasan began quickly by putting up a web site
to let poker fans subscribe to the title prior to
launch. Then as a bold move, Srinivasan also
developed a television commercial that aired in
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Seattle
to announce the upcoming launch of ALL IN.
Utilizing a local call center and a vanity number,
800-95-ALL IN, the upstart title started
generating subscriptions at a rapid pace.
“There was a ton of demand for a
Texas Holdem
poker magazine. We hadn’t even launched yet and we
were getting subscribers from all over the
country,” said Srinivasan.
One month after the Super Bowl, Srinivasan brought
in his long-time friend, Kasey Thompson, as
associate publisher to help him launch ALL IN.
Thompson, based out of Beverly Hills, immediately
began courting some of the World’s greatest poker
players including Howard Lederer, Chris ‘Jesus’
Ferguson, and Phil Gordon to write for ALL IN.
Each superstar agreed and have since become
regular contributors to the fledgling magazine.
With the player relationships in place, the duo
contacted Harrah’s to sponsor the 2004 World
Series of Poker and then brought in additional
sponsors to help absorb the cost. Belvedere Vodka,
Runco, Diageo, and Samuel Adams all bought into
the idea of
Texas Holdem
poker and agreed to participate with ALL IN.
Within 3 months of inception, ALL IN was
distributed at the World Series of Poker with
major fanfare. Over the past two months,
subscriptions to ALL IN have grown by over 400%.
Based on this growth, Srinivasan has had to
readjust his 2004 subscription target to 125,000
subscribers.
“Poker is one of America’s great pastimes with
millions of passionate players enjoying this great
game,” said Srinivasan. “We are dedicated to
publishing the best magazine possible for poker
aficionados everywhere.”
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