Tournaments

How is the 2008 World Series of Poker holding up against last year?

So far it looks like the Series is still strong as we begin week three.

24 Events to Date:

12 events have increased entries
7 events have decreased
3 events were new tournaments in 2008
2 events had increased buy-ins from $5k to $10K (entries were down at the higher buy-in)

Here are the week two comparisons:

2008 Event #11
$5,000 No Limit Hold'em Shootout
Number of Entrants: 360
2007 Entries: this is a new event
(first time for a $5,000 Shootout)

2008 Event #12
$1,500 Limit Hold'em
Number of Entrants: 880
2007 Entries: 910
(a small decrease from last summer)

There are many tournaments running in Las Vegas this summer either in competition with the World Series of Poker or in an attempt to pick up some lower limit tournament players who may be in town as fans or satellite players at the WSOP.

Here is an integrated list for all of these tournaments.

Thursday May 29th
12:00 PM World Series of Poker (Rio) $500 WPA Mega Satellite 1 Day
12:00 PM Deep Stack Extravaganza (Venetian) $330 NLHE (Casino Employees) 2 Day
2:00 PM Binion's Poker Classic $150 NLHE 1 Day

Friday May 30th
12:00 PM World Series of Poker (Rio) $10,000 Pot Limit Hold'em 3 Day
12:00 PM Deep Stack Extravaganza (Venetian) $540 NLHE 2 Day
2:00 PM Binion's Poker Classic $150 NLHE 1 Day

Saturday May 31st
12:00 PM World Series of Poker (Rio) $1,500 NLHE 4 Day
12:00 PM Deep Stack Extravaganza (Venetian) $540 NLHE 2 Day
4:00 PM Binion's Poker Classic $150 Pot Limit Hold'em 1 Day

June and July after the break.

We here in the good old U S of A tend to be a wee bit on the self-centered side, forgetting that there are indeed other countries out there that enjoy some of the same recreation that we do. It's why the World Series (baseball version) has been won by an American team since its inception, and no one ever invites a Canadian football team to play in the Super Bowl.

In poker, we're always aware of the international aspect, but even then we forget that the show is still going on at many of the online sites that have now banned US players. Promotions have ended, like the Party Poker [Bonus code Tuaca] Sunday Million now turning to the Sunday 200k Guarantee, and the Monster jackpot rolling in to the Bad Beat Jackpot, but every Sunday there's a healthy tournament going on, full of our friends from across the pond (and those who might have an address putting them there).

These Party Poker [did I mention Tuaca?] final tables always crack me up. As soon as the final ten players are seated, someone begins the persuasion efforts to work out a deal and usually gets a majority of players to go along with them. This time it was even more comical, as all players came to the table with fairly even chip stacks. I understand time zone differences and all make it a little late for those overseas, but once you make the final table, put on a pot of coffee and win it all!

The Swiss are traditionally known for kick-ass hot chocolate and peaceful foreign relations, but Swiss player Tiefenmuehle was having none of that, knocking out half of the final table. bb_king69 ran his pocket 9s into T's pocket Jacks, and the board was no help; sending bb home in 10th place. Next out was novpe, who pushed his short stack all-in with pocket 6s and found himself up against T's Q-9. Two nines on the board sent him out in 9th place. The Swiss Reign of Terror continued when Tiefenmuehle's A-K outlasted NannaU's all-in with A-4; neither player getting any help from the board.