Hail to the Victors
Thursday, June 4, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
There’s a new tradition here at the World Series of Poker. In years past the bracelets would be awarded when the final table came to an end–which oftentimes was very, very late at night. And even though winning a bracelet is one of the signature achievements in poker, the actual presentation was sometimes an anticlimax. When it’s 5:30 in the morning, there’s no one in the stands, and the Amazon Room itself is 90% empty, it’s hard to muster much energy for the bracelet ceremony.
That’s now been changed. Every day at 2pm WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack and Tournament Director Jack Effel take the stage on a small dais built next to the Final Tale Arena and introduce the previous day’s bracelet winners to the crowd. Play is suspended as the newly-crowned champions are welcomed on stage, given a Harrah’s Diamond Rewards Card (an extra perq) and then, of course, are presented their gold World Series of Poker bracelets. Then the national anthem of the winner’s country is played (maybe that’s gilding the lily, a bit) and the winner given a final ovation.
It’s an outstanding idea, one that properly recognizes those who have captured poker’s greatest prize and also gives the fans a chance to see the new champions (and check out their bracelets up close). Today saw bracelets awarded to three Americans–Jason Mercier, Steve Sung, and Freddie Ellis. Ellis, a veteran of high-stakes seven-card stud games in Atlantic City, won the World Championship in that game yesterday after besting Eric Drache in a marathon heads-up match:
I’ve said a number of times before that Harrah’s seems to have this running-the-WSOP thing down, and additions such as the bracelet ceremony go a long way to making the World Series of Poker an even richer and enjoyable experience. And I’m anxious to hear the reaction in the room the first time we hear the French national anthem, the Vietnamese anthem, the Brazilian national anthem. The flags will be wavin’.
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