Pre WSOPE Blog

People have asked me, "Are WSOPE real bracelets?" and the answer is yes. The majority of the big name players will be in attendance, the fields are tough, and it only make sense that we acknowledge that Las Vegas isn't exactly the "world." Having a few events in Europe levels the playing field a little. Europeans who want to do well at the WSOP have always had to come overseas for up to six weeks, or in some cases more to play a full WSOP schedule. The WSOPE is 7 bracelet events, plus a ladies event. I've said this before, and I'll say it again, I full support women's rights to hold ladies only events, and the truth is, no "man" has ever entered a ladies event. A real man wouldn't do that, and I hope we don't see that happen here in Cannes.

The WSOPE has always taken place in London, and this is the first year it's being played in Cannes. A few random notes from my perspective:

-Better facility. Day 1's happen on site in the hotel, day 2's and further take place in the casino.
-Plenty of room between the tables, the Empire was often a bit cramped.
-Hotel is very nice, rooms are good.
-View is better than in London.

Selfishly, I prefer the food in London. Being a vegan, there were plenty of options in the Soho area to choose from, but options here will be limited for me. I'm sure the food for "normal people" is excellent.


I've always done very well at WSOPE, back-to-back main event final tables, coming 5th then 2nd, then last year in the heads up event I cashed, losing in the quarter-final to Andrew Feldman, and just missed cashing in the main event. The one year I played a lot of prelims, I cashed 4, or 5 times I think, I don't remember exactly.

The crew is anchored by Ty Stewart, and he's brought over plenty of familiar faces from the WSOP. Jack Effel is the tournament director, and as far as rules and structures go, they are on the ball across the board, so you shouldn't expect too many surprises if you've played in the WSOP Las Vegas edition.

I'm sure I'll find something to complain about, I always do, because I'm not exactly a sane person in that regard. I've been described as anal, and can't deny that its a decent description. So far, everything seems to look good. I took the tour, and I like what I saw and hope this three week stay is a successful one.

I'll be tweeting chip count updates from my @RealKidPoker account, but if you use any kind of twitter app, then you'll also need to follow @dnchips to see the updates. I do this, so that I don't clog everyone's feed with chip counts, unless they actually want to see them. Also, I can be a little more detailed with hand updates, etc. Twitter is an interesting phenomenon, and I want to use this form of social media in such a way that I personally like seeing it. I usually unfollow a lot of poker players during the WSOP, unless I have bets against them, because personally, I don't really enjoy reading all the chip count updates.

So no actual tweets come from @dnchips. It's funny, because the account has made 0 tweets and has about 20,000 followers I think. The system DOES work, but invariably, I'll get followers tweeting at me to let me know, "Hey Dan, there are no tweets coming from @dnchips it's not working." One of my followers, God Bless her soul, explains to them that it does work, and how it works.

Today is the 2500 6 max NLH at 5pm. I have a bit of a sore throat, but nothing that should hinder me. Jet lag is not an issue, I woke up around noon, as I've been in Europe for a month now. I stocked my fridge with snacks I'll try to get to on breaks, so I'm about as ready as I can be for the WSOPE.

I'm really jonesing to play poker after the WCOOP. All I did was play, and that's really all I want to do for the next six months. I felt a WCOOP hangover, but now I have the juices flowing again and am ready to make some deep runs here in Cannes. I hope to win a bracelet, or two...

Daniel Negreanu is the 2004 CardPlayer Magazine and World Poker Tour Player of the Year. He presents his poker strategies in one-on-one virtual training at pokervt.com and writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column.
Read all of Daniel Negreanu's poker blog and poker articles at Full Contact Poker.