That's My Number and I'm Sticking With It

Back in 1997 when Stu Ungar won the World Series of Poker for the last time, everyone was gaga over the fact that attendance for the championship event topped 300. There were, for the first time in the WSOP's storied history, 315 entrants. The last player to enter that year was Ungar, who blew the field away to win the event for the third time.

Now, six years later, the size of the field increased to 839. That's 2.7 times the size of the field in 1997, and this, remember, is supposed to be a year in which the economy is weak and people are reluctant to travel for a variety of considerations, and there are several additional reasons one might glom onto to explain a drop in attendance. But an increase? And to 839? How do you explain that one, bucko? And once explained to everyone's satisfaction, what kind of inferences can be drawn about the future of poker and the World Series of Poker's flagship event, the $10,000 no-limit hold'em championship?

When this event first began, way back in poker's dark ages, fields were much smaller. After all, although the $10,000 entry fee was still the same back then, 30 years ago 10 grand went a lot further than it does today. And the only way to gain entry in the old days was to reach way back into your wallet and show 'em the money. There were no satellites, and no way to lighten the financial burden: You came up with the cash or you didn't enter. For the average player, that was a daunting prospect. After all, with 839 entrants, there's a wide variety of playing skill at the tables; some of your adversaries are better than you are, but others are not. But when the fields were smallish and the only guys with the jack necessary to pay the freight were legendary Texas road gamblers who played for these kinds of stakes every day of the week, you'd look at the field and there wouldn't be a weak spot in sight. And you know what they say: "If you can't find the fish at the table within the first 30 minutes of entering the game, you're it."

But the advent of satellites changed everything by allowing players to pony up as little as a few hundred dollars and win themselves a seat in the main event. In fact, when Tom McEvoy beat Rod Peate for the championship in the early '80s, it marked the first time two players who had entered the tournament via the satellite route had played for the championship.

Although satellites are now some 20 years old, back in their early days they were not as prevalent as they are now. Back then, they were held mostly in Las Vegas, and mostly at Binion's Horseshoe. But all of that's changed and satellites are now a worldwide phenomenon. While satellites have clearly democratized the World Series of Poker, they have gone on to do so in ways never envisioned by the poker community when McEvoy and Peate dueled it out for the championship.

This year marked another watershed in World Series of Poker history. It's the year of the Internet. And while Internet gaming and online poker rooms have been around for five years or so, 2003 marks the first time Internet poker rooms have played such a significant role in forging the field for the World Series of Poker.

It is interesting to note that while 839 players were at the tables when the clarion cry of "Shuffle up and deal" was uttered, only a minority of them paid their own way into the tournament. While the vast majority of players won their way in through satellites hosted by Binion's Horseshoe and some through satellites held in their hometown cardroom – satellites are now held in hometowns all over the world, not just in Las Vegas – a huge number of players won satellites in cyberspace satellites held at a number of online poker sites.

And just to make sure the entire world was noticing the impact of Internet poker on the size of the field at the World Series of Poker, Chris Moneymaker, a guy who won a $40 buy-in event at Pokerstars.com, won the event. If that's not enough, the WSOP was the first tournament he had played at a traditional casino. All of his previous tournament experience was garnered online.

Moneymaker's triumph is poker's feel-good story of the year. This is a guy who worked two jobs to support his wife and 3-month-old daughter, but now he's a millionaire as a result of parlaying 40 bucks into a fortune his first time out of the box. Don't think the world isn't sitting up and taking notice.

When you couple Moneymaker's incredible, improbable feat with the surprisingly good ratings the World Poker Tour has gotten on the Travel Channel, it's pretty clear that poker's time is coming – if it's not already here.

The World Poker Tour is so popular that it may well spawn copycat events. Copying a popular format is nothing new; in fact, it's the modus operandi in TV land. So, there's no reason why another channel wouldn't try to replicate the Travel Channel's success with a poker tour of its own. After all, if people watch it, and the production costs are modest, why not? It seems to be a slam-dunk. And whatever flaws you might assign TV execs, you have to give them credit for one thing: They know how to spot a hit show and copy it.

Another reason why the attendance at the World Series of Poker went soaring might well be the World Poker Tour's final event. With a buy-in of $25,000, it certainly took the sticker shock off the mere 10 grand it costs to enter the World Series. But crossing that 10K threshold appears more psychological than anything else. After all, most players never really anted up the $10,000 entry fee out of their own wallets and bankrolls; instead, they won their way in.

So, there you have it, a cornucopia of reasons why attendance is skyrocketing at the World Series of Poker's main event, and probably elsewhere, too, in smaller buy-in tournaments in casinos all across the country. There's a pretty neat nexus between cyberspace poker rooms and their brick-and-mortar cousins. Real tournaments at real casinos are attractive events, and most people like them. But those events are fed, nourished, and nurtured by satellites held online at a variety of Internet casinos. Savvy brick-and-mortar casinos have made this connection and are busily building relationships with online poker rooms that will hold satellites for tournaments held at traditional casinos. The online sites, in essence, feed a large number of players – entry fees clutched firmly in hand – into brick-and-mortar events.

It's not a case of competition between traditional and online casinos; it's a case of working together toward common goals. The promise of entry into big-money events brings players into cyberspace looking to do what Chris Moneymaker did: turn 40 bucks into two and a half mil. It generates revenue for online poker sites, while the traditional casinos also reap the benefit of additional players who win their way into these events. I expect cash game play to increase, too. After all, the guys watching the World Poker Tour on TV and playing poker online all yearn for the real thing: chips that clack and competition against opponents located across the table – not across the ocean – and the only place to find that is in a brick-and-mortar casino.

How will this all play out next year? No one knows for sure, although Becky Binion Behnen told me she expects at least 1,000 entrants into the "big one." I'm slightly more optimistic, and as long as the world holds together for another year, the cost to play stays the same, and Binion's finds a place to put all those tables, I'm making my future-book prediction right now. Next year, I predict we'll see 1,150 at the tables when the holy words "Shuffle up and deal" are spoken. That's my number and I'm sticking with it.

My newest book, Internet Poker: How to Play and Beat Online Poker Games, is available through Card Player and at www.ConJelCo.com, and all of my books can be found at major bookstores and online at www.Amazon.com.