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For most people,
just winning a seat in the 2006 World Series of Poker main event is
a dream come true. For the professionals that have been playing in
the event for years it has become a zoo. The moment you arrive at
the convention center area of the Rio you are bombarded with
advertisements from poker websites, poker magazines, and other poker
related paraphernalia. This year, the vendors that adorn the outside
area of the tournament room have gotten bigger and even more
extravagant with their ploys to lure potential online players onto
their growing email lists. The vendors have gotten to be so many
this year that the food court, along with the addition of a make
shift bar with pool table and all, had to be moved outdoors as to
make room for the increase in scantly clad women passing out free
poker t-shirts.
This year the 2nd
Annual Gaming Life Expo was sold out for vendor spots. The Bodog
space had to create a 2 story booth to just to make more room. Since
the spectators are not allowed to enter the tournament area until
later in the day when the field narrows down, the Expo does allow
the spectators a chance to feel a little more involved with the
event. One vendor is even offering a chance to win $1 million to
visitors!
What is the
reason for all this craziness? Well the fact is the WSOP has grown
immensely in player participation over the years. Just 3 years ago
the main event was 839 players strong and this year they will go
over 10 times that amount. To accommodate the 5,519 players that
played in last year’s main event the WSOP staff held three Day 1
events. This year they were forced to have four day 1 events and
two day 2 events. Day 1A and Day 1B will play down to 900 or
so players each day to combine for about 1800 Day 2 A+B players.
The same goes for Day 1C and Day 1D combining to make a Day 2 C+D.
Although I am not the biggest fan of this approach I would hate to
see what a room of 800 plus tables and 8000 plus poker players would
look like.
The numbers for
everything have increased immensely this year. The amount of crazy
hats people wear, the vendors, the free poker related objects being
passed out, the media passes, the celebrities, and even the amount
of crazy outbursts people create to get on TV have increased. One
guy even brought a pair of cymbals with him to announce his presence
to the ESPN cameras. I really hope that doesn’t last long. One of
the media guys from AOL that I was talking to had a count going for
all the crazy head gear he saw including the guy wearing a Finding
Nemo hat. One guy was dressed like a pimp and another guy looked
like a magician mixed with the mad hatter from Alice in Wonderland.
The attempts to become a 15 minute celebrity never seem to end.
As I walked by
Louie Anderson’s table he asked me if I wanted to see his cards. So
he showed me a K 4 off suit. Blinds are $25/$50. He was the small
blind and everyone folded to him so he limped in. The big blind
checked and the flop came rainbow J 2 3. Both checked. Turn was a
nothing 8. Check and check. River was an Ace and Louie checks
again. Big blind bets $100. Now I thought, this was the first day
of the World Series of Poker, fold obviously. Apparently not
because Louie didn’t even bluff at it he just called! With nothing!
The Big Blind turned over an A 4 to pair the Ace and Louie mucked
his cards. Strangely enough that’s pretty much the feel around the
tournament. Many of the tables I watched were playing really loose.
I saw a couple tables consistently have $1000 and $2000 raises and
re-raises with crap hands. The blinds are only at 25 and 50
people! Last year it seemed like just about every hand I saw early
on was pocket aces against pocket kings or ace/king. This year the
rules seemed to have changed.
Another change is
the souvenir all-in chips given to all the players. Players can use
the chip to call all-in instead of shoving all their playing chips
into a messy pile in front of them. Although this may be great in
theory I have a feeling it may be a disaster in waiting. I already
saw one person accidentally lose their all-in chip after playing
with it and the dealer thought someone had gone all in. The rule is
that if you are using the all-in chip, which you have an option not
to use, and move the chip in anywhere in front of you then it is
considered an all-in move. Lucky for this guy, he was already out
of the pot and was not forced to be all-in.
So it seems like
it will be an interesting year for the World Series of Poker. A $10
million top prize. Who knows how many millionaires will walk away
from this year’s event. |
