Saturday, June 20, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
There comes a point during the seven weeks of the World Series of Poker where you stop counting how many days you’ve been there and switch to counting down the days till it’s over. We’re not quite there yet–for me it’s the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. tournament that acts as the demarcation line. When the H.O.R.S.E. champion is crowned, that’s when you you know it’s time to gear up. Because that means the Main Event is just a few days away, and the Main Event is…well, it’s the Main Event. It’s the biggest poker tournament in the world, but of course it’s much, much more than that.
The Main Event is one of the great spectacles in all the world. Thousands of people from all over the globe, from all walks of life, converge on Las Vegas in the full furnace fury of the desert summer. They come to play a game that’s enjoyed by millions around the world, who play poker in card rooms and around kitchen tables and online while wearing their pajamas. And they play for a gargantuan prize pool, one fully funded by the players themselves, a pot of gold that dwarfs the prize money awarded to the winners of the U.S. Open golf tournament, Wimbledon, The Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500. Combined.
The 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event starts on July 3rd. Maybe it’s too soon for me to look ahead to the Main Event–there’s too much poker to be played today, tomorrow, and over the next two weeks for that. But for you, it’s not too soon. Especially if you want to PLAY in the Main Event. Because tomorrow at 5:30pm ET UltimateBet is hosting our 50-Seat Guaranteed Tournament. Fifty players, at least, will win their Main Event seat (plus $2,000 for travel and accomodations) in tomorrow’s event. The buy-in is $500+30 and no matter what UB will be sending 50 of those players to the Main Event. If the prize pool swells above the guaranteed, more Main Event packages will be awarded. It’s your chance to lock up your Main Event seat for $530, and you don’t even have to win the tournament to snag the big prize.
The Biggest Game in Town the World starts in less than two weeks. And you can take your first step toward Vegas tomorrow at 5:30pm ET at UltimateBet.
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Sunday, March 15, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Today is the Ides of March, the day that a soothsayer warned Julius Caesar to beware. Caesar didn’t sufficiently beware it and ended up getting stabbed to death by a bunch of Senators. And, like, that’s no fun. Hopefully your Ides of March will be more enjoyable than the one enjoyed by Caesar 2053 years ago.
So we’ve reached the middle of March. Today is the NCAA Selection Show, next week brings the official start of spring. It’s almost time to put away the sweaters and break out the sandals. And for poker players, once spring has sprung that means the World Series of Poker can’t be too far off in the distance. News is already emanating from the Rio–last week Harrah’s released the rules for the 2009 World Series and pre-registration for events is now open. Another big change to the WSOP was announced last week–players will start with more chips than ever before and additional levels have been added to at least some events. Last year players received twice as many chips as the buy-in was worth–for example, if you entered a $1,500 event you started with 3,000 in chips–but this year players will get three times as many chips as the buy-in. Throw in the additional levels and players in this year’s World Series will get even more play than last year, when Harrah’s also introduced changes to the structure to allow players more time to maneuver. To get the information direct from the source, here’s what WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel said in an interview with PokerNews:
Yes, the chips are three times the buy-in as opposed to two times. What you’ll see this year is that none of the levels have been taken out of the no-limit events. The limit events will have additional big blinds that they didn’t have last and more big bets than they had last year. Without going into the details, it’s pretty cool. The higher buy-ins have also been tweaked as well to give additional play. You’ll see a vast improvement in the structures and the additional levels and play for the players.
If you recall many people referred to the 2008 World Series of Poker as “The Year of the Pro”, because so many well-know professional players won bracelets. More chips and a slower structure should allow the most skilled players time to display those skills, and last year seemed to bear that out. Now Harrah’s has increased the amount of chips by 50% and adjusted the structures, which should give the best of the best an even greater advantage. And that’s as it should be–the World Series of Poker is supposed to be the ultimate test of poker prowess, and it’s good to see that Harrah’s is constantly working to ensure that these events provide players the best opportunity to display their talent.
I do have one concern about the chip-increase and changes in structure. Last year a lot of the WSOP events finished up very, very late. And when I mean late, I mean early–like, after dawn. Especially on Day 2 of a three-day event, you HAVE to play down to a final table. There were a few Day 2s that finished past 6AM, and I recall one event that still had 18 players left when it was halted around 7AM to give the players time to rest before they resumed play that afternoon for the bracelet. Depending on how significant the changes in structure there might be even more brutally long days in store at the World Series, which could lead to some logistical headaches because Harrah’s tries to give players SOME time to rest before a final table.
That said, the number of chips in play is sometimes overrated when it comes to tournament poker–it’s not unusual to see the action go raise, re-raise, shove, regardless of whether the shover has an 80BB or 300BB stack. Especially among players who aren’t especially experienced, pushing the entire stack into the middle can have an almost gravitational attraction. So while I’m totally fine with staying up until well past sunrise covering a tournament (Vegas is surreally beautiful just after the dawn) I’m hoping that not every night during the 2009 WSOP will last until the following day.
You can, of course, qualify for the World Series of Poker right here at UltimateBet. And here at UB there are a number of ways to pull that off. You can…
- Play in our STEP tournaments, where you can qualify for a $12,000 Main Event package for one thin dime.
- Grab a seat in our weekly $500+30 WSOP Super Satellite, held every Sunday at 8:30pm ET.
- Do battle in one of our daily rebuy satellites to win a seat in the above-mentioned WSOP Super Satellite
It’s the Ides of March. The 2009 World Series of Poker is a bit more than two months away. Now’s the time to get to work on locking up your seat. w
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