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37th Annual World Series of Poker: The Lowdown
(May 21, 2006)
June 25th – August 10th, 2006
Location: Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino,
3700 West Flamingo Road,
Las Vegas, NV 89103,
702 777-7777,
Toll-Free 1-888-746-7153
The start of the 2006 World Series of Poker is less than six weeks away, and this year’s event promises to be the biggest and boldest yet. Preparations are in full swing and the buzz is already in the air. In an official press release, Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., the owner of the WSOP, announced an expected turnout of over 20,000 participants from over 45 countries competing for more than $103 million in cash prizes.
Let’s take a look at how this year’s tournament is shaping up.
It all kicks off on June 25th at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino. There are 45 events this year, which means 45 coveted Golden Bracelets are up for grabs. Some of the events include Seniors No Limit Hold’em, Razz, H.O.R.S.E, a casino employees NLHE, Ladies NLHE, and of course the big dog of them all, the World Championship Texas Hold’em No Limit event, which wraps up the tourney on August 10th.
Most of the events are three-day affairs, with a few two-day events and a single one-day tourney (the $1500 NLHE, which coincides with the Main Event). There will be two super-satellites ($225 w/ rebuys) and one mega satellite ($1060 buy-in) every day beginning June 25th, not to mention all the side games as well.
Of course most eyes will be on the Main Event, which begins on July 28th. There are spaces for 8000 entrants, which will be split into 4 flights over 4 days. Each flight will play down from 2000 to 800 players on their respective first days. After that, the four flights will be combined to form two flights, and 1600 players will play down to 700. After a grueling two full-days of poker, the remaining 1400 players will be given a day off and the first week of the WSOP Main Event comes to a close.
On Thursday, August 3rd, the players are right back at it though, this time for seven straight days of poker. On Day One of Week 2, the remaining 1400 players play down to 600. On Day Two, they become 300; Day Three, 150, and Day Four down to 60. This should be when the fatigue sets in, although with all eyes on that multi-million dollar prize, the adrenaline will surely be carrying them along at this point. Day Five will see those 60 players reduced to 27, which means it could be a relatively short day. That being said, keep in mind that there may be as many 80 million chips in play, with each player having an average chip stack of 1.33 million. Day Six will determine who’ll be there at the Final Table, when those 27 are whittled down to 9. On the final day of this year’s WSOP, August 10th, the remaining 9 players move to the poker room at Caesar’s Palace, and a new champion will be crowned.
Click here to have a look at the full schedule.
As the WSOP becomes more and more popular each year, more and more people are eager to get in on the action. This of course generates a certain amount of cynicism as the industry turns into a profit machine for the companies involved. In terms of negative publicity, there have been some grumblings about Harrah’s decision to cut dealer and floor staff wages this year. According to some reports, they are offering only 60% of what they paid last year. This of course has infuriated not only the employees, but many of the players who have come to expect the most competent dealer’s and floor staff. It seems that a lot of the most respected dealers see the cuts as an insult and are refusing to take part in this year’s event. We don’t want to get into a lengthy diatribe on corporate greed but below you can find the WSOP rake on the buy-ins for each event, and we’ll let the numbers speak for themselves:
Buy-In
Take-out
$500
10%
$1000
9%
$1500
9%
$2000
9%
$2500
8%
$3000
8%
$5000
6%
$10000
6%
To credit Harrah’s, they have recently taken steps to include the players and fans in the decision-making process. The newly established Players Advisory Council is certainly a welcome addition. Well-known poker figures such as Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, and Scotty Nguyen are now being consulted in order to determine what is best for the future of the game, from the players’ point of view.
In sum, this year’s tournament looks to be as intriguing as ever. A record-breaking audience is expected as the WSOP Championship continues to evolve into one of the biggest sporting events in the world. See you in Vegas, baby!
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