World Series of Poker set for another historic round

The World Series of Poker is held in the spacious Amazon Room of the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. It's a sight to behold. A facility that's typically reserved for extraordinarily large conventions, the Amazon Room is the size of a football field, and has enough space for more than 200 poker tables that run tournaments, cash games and satellite events simultaneously around the clock. There's also an elaborate stage for all the televised final tables, complete with a full ESPN crew and seating for spectators.

Never in a million years would I have thought poker would ever come to this," poker legend Doyle Brunson said in 2006, when a staggering 8,773 players entered the Main Event.

The Amazon Room opened its doors again last week, with the start of the 2008 World Series of Poker. The tournament continues for six weeks. Fifty-five events are scheduled on a daily basis, with thousands of players expected to battle it out for millions of dollars.

Alterations to the Main Event have been widely reported. The meat of the event will play out July 3 to 14; however, the final nine players who make the final table will have to wait until Nov. 9 so the ESPN cameras can catch the action and broadcast it nearly live.

There's also a dramatic increase in the number of large-buy-in tournaments. In previous years, the World Series was flooded with lower, $1,500-buy-in tournaments. These tournaments made the events accessible to a larger percentage of poker players, but were criticized for their repetitiveness.

For decades, the $10,000 buy-in for the Main Event was the largest found in poker. The 2008 World Series now has eight of them scheduled in various games and formats, with the first tournament - the World Championship of Pot Limit Hold 'em - beginning last week.

There are two easy ways to follow all of the tournament action if playing an event is not in your plans. Poker Web sites such as card-player. com, worldseriesofpoker. com and bluff-magazine.

com, among others, offer live tournament updates that include chip

counts, cashes and

spotlight hand updates. Dedicated readers usually don't have to wait long for updates, as the Amazon Room is filled with tournament reporters.

One of the most interesting story lines in every World Series is the chase for the most championships. Phil Hellmuth set the record in 2007 after winning his 11th, putting him one up on Brunson and Johnny Chan for the record.

Another interesting item to follow will be the size of the field for the Main Event. After setting a record in 2006 with 8,773 players, the field thinned down nearly 2,500 players to 6,358 in 2007. The decrease was a result of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which prohibited online poker sites from buying players into the tournament via satellites.

Niagara Falls Review

News Added: 06 June, 2008

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