As I write this column, the 2007
World Series of Poker is about at its midpoint. I would like to share with you some thoughts on the event itself, as well as some of my personal experiences thus far.
All grown up: Some of my best poker memories since moving to Las Vegas in 1995 involve the
World Series of Poker at its original location, Binion's Horseshoe. When the tournament moved to the Rio, I had mixed feelings. Although I acknowledged that the venue was probably more suitable for an event of this size, I missed playing in an establishment with such a long history, and that had played such an important part in my personal development as a player.
Well, judging by the massive size of this year's event, the
World Series of Poker has clearly outgrown its original host. For the first week or so, there was rarely an unused table in the cavernous Amazon room between noon and midnight. Speaking of the room, I would like to compliment the "design department" or whoever was responsible for the way the tournament room looks this year. Oversized images of all of the past champs (except Bill Smith) grace the walls, and the
ESPN final-table area actually resembles a sports arena. Television screens aplenty are scattered throughout the room, as well. With the previous two
WSOPs taking place in a room that most closely resembled an abandoned warehouse, this year's venue is something to be proud of for poker players and management alike.
Early chaos forgotten: In a word, opening day of
WSOP 2007 was a disaster. Lines to register for the weekend's events were worse than Disneyland on the Fourth of July, which deservedly caused lots of grumbling by wannabe tournament players, many of whom simply gave up. After all, who wants to spend more time in line waiting to sign up for an event than actually playing in the event itself?
There were two main reasons for the ridiculous lines, in my opinion. The first was simply the massive popularity of the events that most people were waiting to play (the casino employees event and the opening no-limit hold'em tourney, which attracted more than 4,000 combined players). With so many signing up, some waiting is inevitable. However, had the tournament room been up and running one or two days earlier, most players would have come by sooner to sign up. In my mind, management should be embarrassed to see so many customers waiting for so long to resister, when simply having the room ready a day earlier could have alleviated much of the wait. Also, having the room open earlier would mean that satellites could be running, which surely would have boosted the attendance of the opening $5,000 mixed-hold'em event, possibly by 20 percent or more.
Then, there were the cards. The new "Poker Peek" design was so poorly received by players that management pulled them in favor of the classic Kem and Bicycle cards within about three hours. Probably the biggest problem with the decks was that sixes and nines were indistinguishable unless you counted the little thingies in the middle of the card. I'm not sure that it was a coincidence that the biggest pots seemed to occur when one or two sixes or nines hit the flop. There were also other minor problems, such as spades and clubs looking alike. In any case, I was extremely impressed (and relieved) that management made the correct, quick decision to pull the new design in favor of the one with which the players were familiar.
So, after getting off on the wrong foot, the tournament proceeded like a well-oiled machine over the next couple of weeks. It was really quite amazing to me that an event of this size could go so smoothly after such a hectic start. Some days featured as many as six main events running simultaneously (two in their first day, two in their second, and two final tables).
After the opening weekend, my initial thoughts were that the event had outgrown management's ability to control it. Two weeks later, I am fully confident that the players are in good hands.
Pass the oxygen: Coming into this year's
WSOP, my plans were to more or less play a tournament every day, whether it was the first, second, or final table (hath Hell frozen over yet?) To prepare myself for this, I worked hard to get myself in good shape both mentally and physically in the preceding months. Nevertheless, it's two weeks in and I'm exhausted. To date, I've entered eight events, with only one minor cash (in the $5,000 mixed-hold'em event). Being primarily a cash-game player, in which positive feedback in the form of winning days is common, it's been a little bruising to my ego thus far. But, I'm planning on sticking to my plan, and am hopeful that my results will improve.
Despite my lackluster results, I have logged some serious hours, as I have accumulated chips early in most of the tournaments I have entered. I've busted out within shouting distance of the money in two no-limit hold'em events, and played fairly deep in both the $5,000 limit hold'em and the $5,000 pot-limit hold'em tourneys. Practically my only early out came in the first Omaha eight-or-better tourney, in which I was indicted on multiple charges of counterfeiting.
With any luck, by the time this issue has hit the casinos, I'll be sporting a bracelet or two.
Mark Gregorich has played poker professionally in Las Vegas since 1995. He is regarded as one of the top Omaha eight-or-better players in the world, and contributed to that section in Doyle Brunson's Super System II. Mark is primarily a cash-game player, but occasionally tosses some dead money into the prize pools of major tournaments.
