Inside Straight -- News

More Chips, Better Structure in 2009 WSOP
Players in Main Event Will Begin With 30,000 in Chips


More chips, better structure.

Those four words will be music to the ears of many poker players who have criticized the World Series of Poker in the past for not providing enough starting chips and not allowing for enough play in the later stages of its tournaments.

Jack Effel, the tournament director of the WSOP, has confirmed that players will receive more starting chips in 2009 than in any previous year in WSOP history.

"We've tripled the chips (in relation to the buy-in) for every event," said Effel. "Now some people might say, 'Oh, you must've eliminated levels.' On the contrary, we've added levels."

Several events - from the $10,000 world championship events to the $1,500 no-limit hold'em events - will feature new levels in 2009.

Effel said the tough economic times played into the tournament organizers' decision to add more starting chips, but that the increase will most likely be permanent.

"It's a tough economy, so we wanted to make sure our poker players were getting the most value," said Effel. "But this is about making the tournaments better for the longevity."

Shane Schleger, a popular poker blogger and a regular on the tournament trail, has played his fair share of WSOP events - 60-70 in the past few years. Although he's hesitant to call the changes a major success, since they don't alter the duration of the levels, he sees them as being potentially very good for the game.

"Anything that brings more recreational players into the event, I'm all for it," said Schleger. "It is more fun to play with more chips, but it doesn't make as big a difference as other aspects of the structure."

Schleger said the two other essential factors in making up a good structure are the duration of the levels and the level jumps.
For the 2009 WSOP, the duration of the levels (60 minutes in most tournaments) has not changed, but there have been a few new levels added.

Main Event

Each player will start with 30,000 in chips (as compared to 20,000 in 2008). The blinds structure is scheduled to mirror 2008, with 120-minute levels.

$50,000 H.O.R.S.E.

This event will provide the most starting chips of any 2009 WSOP tournament - 150,000. The blinds will start at 400-800, as opposed to 300-600 last year, when players started with 100,000 in chips. Levels will last 90 minutes.

$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em ("Stimulus Special")

In this new event for 2009, the $1,000 buy-in will get players 3,000 in starting chips, to match the World Series' new "triple the buy-in" formula. This tournament's structure will be similar to last year's $1,500 no-limit hold'em events, but will also feature a 25-25 level to start the tournament, as well as a 75-150 level. Last year's $1,500 no-limit tourneys started at 25-50 and went from 50-100 to 100-200. Levels will last 60 minutes.

$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Events
These popular tournaments will give players 4,500 in starting chips (as opposed to 3,000 in 2008). Like the "Stimulus Special," there will be a 75-150 level, but the first level of blinds will be 25-50 (just as it was in 2008). However, the WSOP has added a 1,200-2,400 blinds, 300 ante level (level 14). Previously, the tournament went from 1,000-2,000 with a 300 ante to 1,500-3,000 with a 400 ante.

Ladies and Seniors Events

The ladies and seniors events will also feature the new 25-25 level to begin the tournament, with players starting with 3,000 in chips. These tournaments will also have a 75-150 level that was not in place in 2008.

Raymer Makes the Conservative Case for Poker
2004 World Series of Poker Champ and the PPA Appear at CPAC


At the 36th-annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC, 2004 World Series of Poker Champ Greg Raymer and the Poker Players Alliance wanted to make it clear that protecting the rights of poker players should be on the conservative agenda.

"I think a true conservative is someone who wants little or no government in his life," said Raymer. "He doesn't want the government to tell him what to do."

While support for online poker has by no means been separated strictly by party allegiances, some of poker's harshest critics have been Republicans, who argue that any kind of gambling defrays the moral fabric of the country, and that online poker specifically presents a hazard to children.

Indeed, it was two top Republicans - former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and current Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl - who were the forces behind the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which hampered the poker industry by making it illegal for banks to transfer funds to gaming sites.

Raymer and the PPA want to let Republicans know that it's not only OK to be tolerant of online poker, but that it directly fits into the essence of conservatism.

"A lot of people, when they think of conservatives, think of conservative Christians … who are obviously against gambling in all forms and would not be in favor of the PPA and what we're trying to accomplish," said Raymer. "But I think the true Republican, and certainly someone who's a good conservative, is going to say that if it's an activity that is engaged by an adult who is mentally competent, if they're not hurting other people, I'm just going to have to … let them do it."

Raymer warned against the mindset that government should protect people from themselves, saying that's what our family and our communities are for. He also didn't have kind words for Frist and Kyl.

"I don't think those guys are really conservative. They may or may not be good Republicans, but they're not good conservatives," said Raymer. "They don't want the government telling them what to do, but they feel it's their place to tell us what to do. Basically, they're being paternalistic, and, to be honest, they're being idiots."

The PPA asked Raymer to attend the conference. He signed autographs and did both radio and TV interviews while in DC, and even made some time with fellow poker pro Annie Duke to host a charity poker tournament for underprivileged children in the DC area.

Raymer said he got a very positive reception at the conference, and was optimistic that the UIGEA would be reversed.

"I'm always optimistic, because I like to think, as a group, we're smart enough to do the right thing," said Raymer.

Bill Introduced to Legalize Home Poker Games in South Carolina
Poker Games Would Be Legal if They Don't Take a Rake


South Carolina has been the epicenter of the legal fight for poker recently. In February, five poker players were found guilty of breaking the state's gambling laws in a decision that already has been appealed. The defendants are fighting a law that has been on the books since 1802, which, if read literally, bans any game of cards or dice - including, but not limited to, poker and popular children's games like Monopoly.

Of course, South Carolina hasn't been breaking up any Monopoly games lately, but the recent poker trial has put the spotlight on the unusual and archaic law. Now, some South Carolina legislators are fighting to replace that law altogether. State Sen. Glenn McConnell has introduced a bill that would, among other things, legalize home and charity poker games in the state of South Carolina.

"The (current) law is antiquated," McConnell, a Republican who also serves as the Senate president pro tem of the state, told the Post and Courier, a South Carolina newspaper. "It was written in another time, and government has no business micromanaging people's lives and the choice they make on the games that entertain them."

The bill, as written, would legalize private poker games as long as "no house player, house bank or house odds exist, and where there is no house income from the operation of the game."

The proposed bill already has earned its fair share of supporters.

"We're tired of the fact that in your own private home, you can't play poker," state Sen. Robert Ford, a Democratic supporter of the bill, told Charleston's ABC affiliate. "We think you should be able to do anything in your castle, which is your home."

It's not the first time a bill has been introduced to legalize home poker games in the state. According to the Post and Courier, a similar bill died in committee once it garnered the opposition of upstate conservatives.