I'm not going to do in-depth tournament reports like I have in years past, but I am doing daily blurbs for All In magazine. They can be found at:
http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/allinwsop.cfm
I'll also try to post them here later in the day. Here are my updates from the first two days:
First-Day Notes from Blair Rodman
Lines and More Lines-How could Harrah’s not have been prepared for the throngs of players? It’s almost inconceivable. Last year the tournament cage was besieged for two days before the first event. This year it didn’t even open until the morning of the first day, leaving players stranded in lines upwards of 1,000 people.
No Net Presence-The U.S. government clamping down on online poker sites has caused them to abandon the WSOP as a marketing venue. The ultra-cool lounges of the past few years, featuring free food and drink and lots of hot models, are just a memory, noticeably detracting from the atmosphere. Thankfully, beer is here and the Milwaukee’s Best girls are still roaming the area.
The Cards-Players were incensed at the poorly conceived cards introduced this year. The strangely designed faces were hard to see and made reading the board an adventure. Several players actually misread their hands, costing them dearly. Mercifully, the cards were replaced with traditional set-ups after about six hours.
Attack of the 20-Somethings-Internet-spawned players have descended on the WSOP in droves. They’re young, motivated, and good, and are looking to garner respect in the live-poker world. I predict they’ll be a major factor this year and for years to come. But they better stay hungry, because there are legions of 18- and 19-years-olds waiting in the wings.
Day Two Notes from Blair Rodman
Where Do They Come From?-The massive crowds descending on the Rio for the first few days of this year’s WSOP beg the question: Who are all these people? While the government crackdown on online sites led many people to assume that numbers would be down this year, what they failed to take into account are the thousands of online players who turned 21 since last summer and have embarked upon the pilgrimage to the Rio to make their mark. Speculation on the size of the Main Event continues to be a subject of debate, with sizable wagers being placed among gamblers.
They’re Baaaaack!-The controversial goofy cards that were removed from the opening event last night were back in play for today’s $1,500 no-limit event. I guess they didn’t have enough real cards for today’s massive tournament. WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack promised in his opening announcements that help was on the way, with trucks from around the country bringing in regular cards. Didn’t those in charge get opinions about the new card design from real poker players before deciding to put them into play?
Ripple Effect-One of the many snafus associated with the registration fiasco was that even players who’d pre-registered online still had to wait in the daunting line to get their seat assignments. (Last year they had a will-call line for pre-registered players. Why not this year?) Many of the pre-registered players were caught by surprise and had to wait in line, then ended up as alternates. To accommodate them, it was determined that alternates would be seated well beyond the normal cutoff point of the end of the second level. This decision, combined with the fact that today’s event started an hour late, resulted in the restart of yesterday’s $5K event, scheduled for 2 pm, being delayed to 4:30 because of a lack of open tables, angering many of the players who took pains to be there at 2. The final table was determined around 3 am, with Fred Berger in the lead with $942,000 in chips.
One-Way Street-Harrah’s attitude of profits first, last, and only has infuriated many players. Record high tournament rakes, combined with incompetent management and the distinct feeling that Harrah’s has respect for neither the players nor the game are breeding widely vocalized bad feelings. I know of many long-time supporters of the WSOP who are staying away, or at least greatly limiting their playing schedules. While the numbers may not reflect the discontent because of the influx of young players, eventually the situation is going to lead to some form of player revolt. Mike Matusow has been outspoken about his dissatisfaction, and when the "The Mouth" opens, people listen.
Bombs Away!-The f-bomb rule has been softened considerably, limiting penal offenses to instances where it is directed with malice toward another person. Many players are relieved to be able to return to normal speech patterns.
Gamble in Your Spare Time-For a $1,000 donation to cancer research, players gain entrance to a private lounge featuring a quiet atmosphere, food and drink, and Internet access. There’s also a pool table and an artificial putting green, which are decidedly not for amusement purposes only. Today’s action featured Devilfish and Layne Flack gambling it up on the pool table, and Phil Hellmuth beating Doyle out of $18K on the putting green. This is going to be a hot hangout.