With the conclusion of Season IV of the World Poker Tour, all eyes are focused on the 2006 World Series of Poker. As the WSOP Tournament Circuit travels the country, a tail event has debarked near its home base in Las Vegas. The newly renovated Caesars poker room hosted its first WSOP TC on Friday, April 28.
The nationwide player turnout for the introductory event was mind-blowing, to say the least. The tournament staff at Caesars sensed they had a monster on their hands when almost 300 players registered by 9 a.m. for the $500 no-limit hold'em tournament slated at noon. To handle the rush, an exclusive registrar was created for Caesars Club card members inside the poker room. Another service booth was located near the sportsbook. Hundreds of players crowded the lines and all were anxious to meet the undetermined cutoff.
By 10 a.m., another 200 entries were recorded and just before showtime, when Dianna Donofrio performed the national anthem, there were over 600 humble observers standing behind their chairs.
Caesars reserved a moment to introduce the new poker room manager, Vito Casucci. Casucci's most recent position was held at the Showboat Atlantic City, but some people may recognize him as the former cardroom manger of Harrah's St. Louis. He bravely leaped from a modestly sized poker room to serve at Caesars new prodigious two-room venue and joined the entire staff in expressing excitement and surprise at the record turnout.
The 6,000-square-foot tournament area and the 8,500-square-foot main poker room were packed to capacity with 63 10-seat tables. Several alternates waited in the wings for any new vacancies. The final tally was 652, creating a $316,220 prize pool, awarding the top 45 finishers.
Attendance for this introductory tournament set a record for any WSOP TC event in Las Vegas. "We are very pleased with the tournament attendance," says WSOP tournament director Robert Daily. "The first event was beyond all expectations."
On April 28, the WSOP TC $500 no-limit hold'em event at Caesars bested the combined number of participants for all three introductory WSOP Tournament Circuit events west of the Mississippi: Harrah's Las Vegas (268 players), Paris/Bally's (154 players), and Harrah's San Diego (165 players).
Ceasars Indiana, in October of 2005, outsold its Las Vegas sister property when the Elizabeth hotel introduced its newly renovated poker room. It was the first WSOP TC event to follow the Grand Casino cancellation in Biloxi due to the circumstances of Hurricane Katrina. Being a $300 tournament could have also factored into the equation, and though the number of participants was impressive, the $277,615 prizepool fell short of that of Caesars Las Vegas. The next day's $500 no-limit hold'em tournament had 351 participants.
Following a soft-pedaled turnout at Paris/Bally's Las Vegas, the WSOP TC gathered momentum as it headed east into the New Year, stopping in Atlantic City. The Circuit then returned to Mississippi, where the South rose for the occasion. The Jack Binion WSOP TC-Grand Tunica $500 no-limit hold'em event boasted a record-breaking 940 participants, serving up a $455,900 prizepool.
The World Series of Poker Tournament Circuit will continue with two definitive venues, making a nostalgic stop in New Orleans, while completing its course in Lake Tahoe. From there, the World Series of Poker returns to the Rio All-Suite Hotel Casino in Las Vegas where preparations are being made for the 2006 46-day poker festival and exposition beginning in June.
