World Series of Poker 2015

The WSOP is in full swing. I spent the first two weeks at the festival, having more important commitments at home that kept me from staying longer. As I write this I’m still hungover from one of said commitments, having spent all of Saturday drinking and gambling at York Races. It’s hard work enjoying yourself. The WSOP should be proud of some of the improvements they have made this year compared to the last few years. They listened to the players regarding stack sizes, increasing them to 5x rather than 3x the buy in. Some pros have taken issue with this, but from my experience the majority are happy with the new stack sizes in most formats. The amateurs like lasting more than a couple of levels with the thousands of dollars they’ve saved up to be here and the pros have a deeper stack to play with. So far there also seems to have been plenty recreational players making deep runs too which is nice to see.

The Colossus was also a major success attracting 22,374 players across 4 starting flights. The eventual winner, Cord Garcia, won $638,880 for his $565 buy in which isn’t a bad return on investment at all! A lot of players were surprised and angered that the prize pool pay-out structure was so flat, with Cord receiving just over 5% of the total prize pool for his efforts. At first I felt the same way, however in hindsight paying out more players a larger sum means more people get a positive experience from the event, meaning more people enjoying themselves playing poker which is obviously a good thing. I think the WSOP needs to avoid problems like this in the future though by making sure the pay-out structures are available online well in advance of the festival.

One thing I found out this year that upset me is how the WSOP treat their dealers. I’ve seen a lot of complains on Facebook and twitter regarding the dealers. I had a horrendous experience in 2014, catching one dealer actively making fun of a recreational player stating “The old saying goes “don’t tap the glass”” when the recreational player was receiving abuse. Now I haven’t seen such unprofessional behaviour this year, but there are a number of improvements that the WSOP need to make to live up to being the best festival in the world.

One thing I can’t stand is dealers not caring about the game. 3% of the prize pool gets withheld specially for the dealers so it really narks me when careless mistakes are made through lack of effort and laziness. I don’t mind new dealers. Not one bit. And I don’t mind the occasional card being up turned up or the occasional mistake with change occurring. Everyone makes mistakes especially someone new to the job. Sure, ideally a new dealer should cut his or her teeth in a smaller buy in level than $1,000 and in a tournament less prestigious as a WSOP event. Apparently the WSOP needs to hire a lot of new dealers every year, and this was what was confusing me. What happened to all of last year’s dealers who already cut their teeth? After a full festivals experience, plus presumably having dealt since last year there should be plenty of experienced dealers around?

I was talking to one of the dealers this year and I’ve realised what the problem is. The dealer told me that if someone makes a mistake in a cash game of not raking one pot they get 3 days suspension. A $20 mistake, he told me, could cost an employee $600 in wages. If this story is true, it is absolutely appalling. What kind of atmosphere is that to work in where an honest $20 mistake can stop you putting food on the table for your family? According to the dealer who told me this, there isn’t a warning for first time mistakes, it goes straight to a suspension.

Don’t give me wrong a poker room needs to protect its money, but an effective $600 fine for a simple mistake seems excessively harsh. Surely a warning and the rake being taken from their wages should be issued first? What kind of atmosphere is that to work in? If you were a dealer, brand new to the profession, trying to pay the bills and support a family would you want to work in these circumstances? Where a small mistake could cost you so much? There were plenty of new dealers this year, many with potential to get very good at the trade, but I wonder how many will return to next years WSOP?

I’d like to stress how much I admire and respect the dealers who work hard and take the game seriously. There are plenty dealers at the WSOP who fit this description, both new to the game and grizzled veterans. I wonder how many more there would be if the working atmosphere at the RIO was better for them.