A Preview of the 2008 World Series of Poker

With 2008 quickly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about the New Year. There were 55 events in the 2007 World Series of Poker, culminating in the $10,000 Main Event, which drew 6,358 entrants from around the world, each in pursuit of the $8.25 million first place prize.

In the end, Jerry Yang took home the Main Event bracelet, cementing his name in poker history. With the full schedule for the 2008 WSOP set to be released next week, PocketFives.com sat down with WSOP Spokesperson Gary Thompson for a look ahead at the Super Bowl of poker.

After the final hands were dealt in 2007, the WSOP staff solicited comments from poker players, spectators, media, and vendors in an effort to improve its product offering. Thompson comments on changes from a player perspective for next year’s WSOP, “All of the tournament events will be inside the Rio in 2008. We won’t have a tent like last year. The 2008 WSOP will have 55 events, but will feature the biggest variety of games we’ve ever offered. I think you’ll see several higher buy in events, but none over $10,000 besides the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event.”

The decision to add higher buy in events to 2008 slate was a direct result of poker players wanting additional chances to put their skills to the test: “There are players who say if we have larger buy in events similar to the Main Event in other disciplines, it will be a better test. There’s more time involved, there’s more strategy involved, and luck plays a smaller factor into who wins.” There were 12 events with a $5,000 buy in last year. There were two $10,000 events: a Pot Limit Omaha Championship (Event 50) and the Main Event (Event 55).

Other comments from players addressed the quality and variety of food as well as the satellite offerings. The WSOP has addressed both for 2008: “The Rio is taking steps to have a greater variety of food and a higher quality food. I think you’ll see some changes there. In addition, there will be better-organized satellite opportunities. There were thousands of people who played in satellites last year and we would have been able to accommodate more if we had more room.”

From a spectator standpoint, the WSOP is characterized by crowds flocking to see the best of the best slugging it out in the international spotlight. Though this will most assuredly be the case in 2008, the WSOP is taking steps to alleviate crowding in the Amazon Room: “Our major issue from a spectator standpoint was that there was not enough room. That’s one of the big problems with the WSOP. Unlike other events, the playing field keeps getting smaller and smaller as you go on. All of the fans and media that start watching at the beginning of the tournament are compressed into a smaller area as time goes on. We’re going do what we can to separate the final tables out more. We know there will be several final tables going on at once in different sections of the room. They used to be in close proximity, which made it difficult. This year, we’ll spread them out to allow more fans and media the chance to watch.”

In addition to the higher buy in events, expect the very first $1,500 tournament to have two Day 1’s. In 2007, several hundred people were unable to participate in that event, a $1,500 No Limit event, due to space restrictions. This year, two starting days will open up the field quite a bit. Officially, 2,998 people registered for Event 3 last year. For the Main Event, expect additional tables to be placed in areas within the convention center around the Rio.

There have been several questions as to the logo policy for the 2008 WSOP. Expect the same guidelines as the 2007 event. Logos can be 12 square inches in area. If the site does business in the United States, a .net logo is acceptable (a .com is not). If the site does not do business within the borders of the United States, you can wear a .com.

Finally, look for a similar group of advertisers and presenting sponsors. Thompson explains the WSOP’s advertising methodology: “Milwaukee’s Best Light will once again be the presenting sponsor. We’ll have new bracelets this year that will be made by CORUM. We’re talking to a number of consumer product companies who may be interested in aligning with us. We’ve been approached by a number of companies as well. There is some perception among advertisers that poker isn’t quite as popular as it once was, but we don’t think the statistics and ratings support that. We’re trying to educate companies and people who have those concerns.”

We look forward to seeing a large contingent of PocketFivers in the Amazon Room at the Rio in Las Vegas for the 2008 World Series of Poker. In the meantime, get your fill of live poker at PocketFivesLive.com.

News Added: 06 December, 2007

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