Entries down as expected in WSOP Main Event
LAS VEGAS — It took four days, but the first "day" of the World Series of Poker's Main Event has been completed and the field officially totaled 6,358 players putting up the $10,000 entry fee.
With the field growing so large in recent years, Day 1 was spread over Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and now there will be two Day 2s with the Friday/Saturday survivors playing Tuesday and the Sunday/Monday survivors playing Wednesday, and then the full field coming together Thursday and competing through the final table, which is scheduled to be contested next Tuesday.
As expected, the 6,358 entries is down from last year's record of 8,773 due to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that has made it more difficult for poker players to fund online accounts. An added effect is the UIGEA has prohibited Harrah's, the host of the WSOP at the Rio, from accepting entries from third parties. In the past, online poker companies could sign up people who qualified on their sites, but this year the sites had to give the money to the players and many of them have taken the money and run instead of using it to enter the Main Event.
But, as WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollack said, "it's still the World Series of Poker." The winner will certainly have nothing to apologize for as this year's field, while short of the 8,773-field that Jamie Gold topped last year, is still more than the 5,619-player field in the 2005 WSOP won by Joe Hachem, way more than the 2,576-player field in 2004 won by Greg Raymer, and light years ahead of the relatively paltry 839-player field in 2003 won by Chris Moneymaker that really sparked the Internet poker boom (stayed tuned for a Moneymaker anecdote below).
This year's final prize pool, after administrative fees are taken out, is $59,784,954. That, of course, is also way down from last year's $82,512,162 purse. By virtue of the number of entries being down, plus a restructing of the prize money that makes the payoffs less top-heavy, this year's champion will win "only" $8.25 million vs. Gold's $12 million last year.
One record that has been set is the amount of chips in play at $127,160,000, but only because this year every player started with $20,000 instead of $10,000.
Nevada sports books aren't allowed to take bets on such things as the number of entries in the WSOP, but last October after Congress passed the UIGEA, offshore giant Pinnacle set the number at over/under 7,550.
It's safe to say the UIGEA was the only thing that kept the Main Event from topping 10,000 entries as the game continues to be as popular as ever, even if pushed slightly underground. And people love to watch. On Monday afternoon, there was a line outside the Amazon Room at the Rio, where Day 1D was taking place, and security was only letting in spectators in groups of 25 as room was made.
* For those who want to watch poker from the Rio without standing in line, ESPN begins televising new shows from the 2007 WSOP this Tuesday at 8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m PDT. Last year, edited shows weren't available until late summer. Tuesday's airing will actually be a double-header with the $5,000 Mixed Hold'em event followed by a $1,500 No-Limit Hold'en event.
ESPN's coverage will continue the following Tuesday, July 17, take off July 24, and then resume on July 31 and continue every Tuesday through Oct. 30 when the Main Event final table will be aired.
* In a posting last week, I discussed how I was ousted from a media charity tournament with A-K suited. On Monday afternoon, I was in another media event, this one sponsored by PokerStars in a room at the Palms. The event was to allow reporters to interview PokerStars spokespeople such as Moneymaker, Raymer, Hachem, actress Shannon Elizabeth and actor Jason Alexander. Most of the interviews focused on poker, but there were also more eclectic discussions such as the one I was involved in with Raymer and Alexander on politics. Raymer has had discussions with the Libertarian Party about running as a vice presidential candidate, perhaps as the runningmate of sports handicapper/tout-turned-politician Wayne Root (rootforamerica.com). Raymer told me his wife was initially against the idea, fearing that he could become a target for wackos if put more in the public eye, but has since softened her stance as it would be a great opportunity for the poker champ who is known as the Fossilman. "Obviously, someone such as yourself or the Racing Form is interested in talking to me because of my association with the gambling world," Raymer said, "but it would be great to be interviewed for the front page of a newspaper, too." He conceded that even though he's well-known in poker circles and has a degree of certain celebrity, he doesn't have the mainsteam appeal of someone such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and that a run on the Liberterian ticket wouldn't have much chance of actually winning, "but it's time for a change in this country and perhaps it would help a few elections down the line to make our country a three-party system or to have Liberitarianism move into the top two. In the 1800's, there were usually two main parties in power at a given time, but they changed a lot."
But enough about politics.
It came time to play. I held my own for the first hour, but after a hand in which I was crippled when a player hit running hearts to beat me with a flush on the river, I was short-stacked and was acting after Moneymaker had entered a pot with a big raise. I only had Q-J suited, but Moneymaker had been bullying the table and I felt he might be bluffing (a bad read on my part). He begged me to fold, to save my chips for another day, but I went all-in and he showed pocket aces. Of course, like a lot of amateurs that find themselves at a table with a world champion, I wanted a story to tell. I certainly wouldn't be writing this if I had busted out to a blogger from BFI. I didn't get any help, so Moneymaker took me out.
Dave Tuley collects his booty after winning a World Series of Poker event. Just kidding. This was a faux final table set up in the hallway at the Rio for silly photos. Dave knows this might get him in trouble with the Mrs., but it would have sounded really lame if he said, "Sorry, ladies, I just want to have a picture taken of myself for my website."
Vlad wins Home Run Derby.
In a follow-up to the column posted on Monday, Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels won the Home Run Derby Monday night at AT&T Park in San Francisco as the 8-1 fifth choice in wagering at the Las Vegas Hilton. Guerrero didn't have the most overall home runs on the night — that honor went to runner-up Alex Rios of the Blue Jays — but Guerrero did enough in each round, including defeating Rios 3-2 in the final matchup. Rios had been the co-longest shot on the board at 15-1.
Dave:
It's good to see you've got your arms wrapped around something nice for a change.
Reply to this