World Series of Poker 2008: A Watershed Moment
May 31, 2008
The 2008 World Series of Poker is off to a great start but when we look back in a few years I predict this will be the year everyone remembers. Already several professionals have told me that they expect this year to be: “the last big year for poker.” Why? Well there a number of reasons.
First and foremost, the World Series of Poker is still an American phenomenon. Sure 87 countries were represented at the 2007 WSOP but 95% of the players over the seven weeks of the Series come from the U.S. Right now the U.S. economy is having some hard times. Gas prices are high, prices are up and the dollar is down. This may well be the perfect storm for poker.
Next, the television contacts that have fueled the poker boom are in jeopardy. The WSOP move of the main event final table to November is about ratings on ESPN. If that doesn’t work, the decline will be confirmed. In fact, we may know before November just how strong the Series is performing just by watching the registration numbers.
There are other factors. The UIGEA in the States, the continuing trade squabbles among the EU nations, the restricted access to online gaming throughout the Far East, but the highlight of any poker year remains the World Series of Poker. There is no tournament that compares. We may never go back to main events under 1,000 players but the days of 6,000, 7,000, 8,000; those may be gone forever or at least we are on the verge of the Poker Eclipse of 2008.
The summer of 2008 will be long remember as the watershed year of the poker boom. Stay tuned, I will update you on this theme throughout the summer with the numbers and the comments from both players and other insiders who will be living and playing at the Rio for the next seven weeks.
PokerStars awards double VPP credits on World Series satellites
May 31, 2008
The 2008 World Series is now up and running in Las Vegas. With one more month of satellites to the Main Event, PokerStars is actually giving its players even more incentive to play for a World Series seat. PokerStars announced…
Is Poker Really This Boring?
May 31, 2008
A humorous look at just how borring poker is to watch… and sometimes play.
Added by: peach
Tags: funny
Date: 2008-05-31
World Series of Poker 2008: First New Record
May 31, 2008
The first No Limit Hold’em event of the 2008 World Series has just set a new record for entries. Last year one of the later $1,500 NLHE events had 3,151 players, which set the then record for most entries in a non-main event WSOP tournament. Just moments ago player #3152 entered today’s Event #2: $1,500 No Limit Hold’em and we have a new record.
The total for Event #2 will not be known until tomorrow because there are two Day Ones for this event, which is another first: an event other than the $10,000 main event with multiple Day Ones. Clearly the WSOP staff anticipated this record when they added the second Day One and opened registration two days before the Series actually began. The plan seems to have worked with over 2,900 players registered by midnight last night and the record broken nearly an hour before cards are in the air.
The “no alternates” announcement several weeks ago has also gotten the players attention; more than one player in line last night cited that new rule as the reason for their early registration. Several players also were veterans of last year’s enormous registration lines and they too seem to have learned a lesson.
With the record now broken, the prop bets seem to be hovering at around 2400 for the new record. Looking at the registration windows, I would take the over.
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2008 Event #2
$1,500 No Limit Hold’em
Number of Entrants: 3,152+
2007 Reigning Champion: CIARAN O’LEARY $727,012
2007 Entries 2,998
(the record 3,151 was set in Event #49 last year)
May Results
May 31, 2008
So one month and 15k hands at 50NL :
If I look at how I’ve changed my game this month, it’s primarily become more aggressive and I’ve loosened up quite a lot in position. The last week of May, I played a 22/18/2 style, and the first week of May it was 18/13/2.7. That’s actually a […]
WSOP Event #1 Day 1 Recap
May 31, 2008
Doyle Brunson opens the 2008 WSOP
The 2008 World Series of Poker kicked off Friday at the Rio Casino with Event #1 $10,000 Por-Limit Hold’em. The opening event attracted 352 entrants and the top 36 would get paid.
The pro-heavy event included poker’s superstars such as Phil Ivey, Jen Harman, Howard Lederer, Patrik Antonius, Doyle Brunson, Erik Seidel, Max Pescatori, Allen Cunningham, Daniel Negreanu, Vince Van Patten, Barry Greenstien, Isabelle Mercier, Vanessa Rousso, Kathy Liebert, and TJ Cloutier.
More after the jump….
WSOP Kicks Off Today
May 30, 2008
The WSOP is kind of a big deal. Last year the 2007 World Series of Poker drew record numbers, Phil Hellmuth won his 11th bracelet and the young pros of the online poker world showed they had talent at the live tables as well. Today marks the official start of the 2008 World Series of Poker beginning with the $10,000 Pot Limit Holdem World Championship. This means the Bodog Poker Mini-SOP follows suit with a $100+$9 Pot Limit Holdem event. This online poker tournament series will run through July 3 with each tournament held on the same date as its counterpart in Las Vegas but with buy-ins equal to just 1 percent of the actual buy-in of the WSOP Event. After the completion of the series’ 25 events, Bodog will host a final tournament on July 10 that will earn three winners seats to the 2009 WSOP Main Event, making Bodog the first online poker site to give away seats to next summer’s Main Event.
There are still plenty of WSOP Main Event online poker satellites at Bodog Poker to win a $12,000 2008 WSOP VIP prize package.
The 2008 WSOP runs May 30-July 14 and features 55 different bracelet events in almost every variation of poker. Also, for the first time in the WSOP’s 39-year history, the Main Event final table will be delayed in order to have it taped and broadcast in primetime on ESPN the same day the player actually wins the event.