Rule 96
Friday, June 5, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
We’re about to start Event #13 of the World Series of Poker, which will be played out over three days. Or, maybe three-and-a-half. A trend that’s developed since the Series started are that events haven’t played down to the final table on Day 2. In years past tournaments always played down to the final nine, no matter how long past sunrise it took. In 2007 I went home after the dawn twice during the WSOP. In 2008, with bigger starting stacks and a few extra levels, I worked past daybreak maybe a half-dozen times. This year, with still more chips in play and even slower structures than last year, it’s simply impossible to winnow the field to a final table in two days.
To address that issue Harrah’s instituted Rule 96, which is a strict 3AM curfew on Day 2s if the tournament is not going to be broadcast. That means players won’t have to battle through breakfast to make the final table. One the other hand, it means some long days playing down to the bracelet. The $1,000 Stimulus No-Limit Hold-Em event had to play down from 50 players to nine, then have the final table on an unscheduled extra day. The $1,500 No-Limit Hold-Em tournament ended with 33 players on Day 2, last night’s Pot-Limit Hold-Em/Omaha event got down to 18, and the Six-Handed event stopped with eight players remaning.
On the one hand this is one of the most humane rule changes in poker history. Asking people to endure an 18-hour session and then come back the next day to play for the bracelet and millions of dollars was a bit much. To say nothing of the poor souls who have to cover those marathon sessions for weeks at a time. There will still be some punishing endurance tests this year at the WSOP, but this rule should give players fighting for the lion’s share of the money and glory a chance to compete with a decent night’s sleep behind them. On the other hand, not playing down to the final nine could cause logjams to form as new tournaments begin and compete for space with tournaments that haven’t quite run their course. Already we’ve seen floor staff scrambling to break tables from the noon tournaments and get them set up for the Day 3 restarts. So far so good, there haven’t been any serious problems, but it’s another hurdle for Harrah’s to clear as they try to balance giving their players the best tournament experience with wrapping up events in a reasonable amount of time.
Related posts:
- Full Throttle In a manner of speaking today will be the busiest...
- The Mix is In Just a few years ago it seemed like poker was...
- This Is Starting to Get Serious This is Day 7 of the Main Event, though we...
- The End of the Beginning Even for the Rio during the World Series this stands...
- Another Day at the Office Day 15 of the World Series of Poker (I think...
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, cutting wsop hours, humane rule changes, rule 96, world series of poker, WSOP, wsop hours
