World Series of Poker looks ahead to 2010

With 60,875 players this year, plans are in place to accommodate more

WSOP/Harrah's

The $8.5 million grand prize of the World Series of Poker.

By Case Keefer (contact)

Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

World Series of Poker

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World Series of Poker 2009

Despite the economic downturn that World Series of Poker officials figured would decrease registration numbers in 2009, the tournament enjoyed another record-setting year.

In the series’ 57 events this summer, a total of 60,875 players participated. That’s an increase of more than 2,000 registrations from a year ago — and nearly 57,000 more than competed only nine years ago.

As officials plan for the 2010 World Series of Poker and beyond, they are still looking to expand.

“We expect to find a way to increase participation,” World Series of Poker spokesman Seth Palansky said. “But I don’t think you’ll see the record growth you have since 2000.”

Palansky said much was learned from this year’s World Series. While the numbers dropped for higher buy-in events — such as the $10,000 Main Event — they exploded for the cheaper events.

For example, the $1,000 No Limit Hold ‘Em event drew more than 6,000 entrants. Palansky said next year’s schedule would reflect the success of the lower buy-in events.

“Price yourselves right and the people will come,” Palansky said. “We do expect to offer a better variety of buy-ins to meet the demands of the marketplace.”

Palansky and his team are also making preparations to avoid the shutouts that occurred on the fourth starting day of the Main Event this year. Hundreds of players were turned away when the tournament reached its daily capacity of 2,809 players.

Part of the problem was one of the four starting dates landed on the Fourth of July, which predictably attracted the fewest numbers of entrants. In 2010, Palansky said, there will be no poker played on the holiday.

The Main Event will either start after the Fourth of July or take a break for the day. Additional plans are also being made to accommodate more players.

“We hope to address it somewhat with an expanded footprint for this year, which means more poker tables so we can have more players,” Palansky said. “But it’s more important to make it abundantly clear to register in plenty of time.”

The World Series of Poker staff is moving forward with its plans without Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, who resigned last week. Pollack created the position of commissioner in 2005 when he felt the tournament needed to be represented by a public face.

The tournament will now revert back to operating without a commissioner.

“There’s no plans to replace the commissioner role, nor do we feel that there’s a void there,” Palansky said. “We feel that the brand has grown and the staff that has been here throughout is here and ready.”

ESPN will be along for the ride as well. The World Series of Poker and the network signed a contract in August that runs through 2017.

The Main Event continues to draw strong ratings, as 2.1 million viewers watched this year’s final table when Joe Cada won the gold bracelet.

“There seems to be more and better understanding of all that this sport has to offer,” said George McNeilly, ESPN’s senior director of communications on a teleconference.

And with that understanding, perhaps more players than ever will sign up in 2010.

That’s what Palansky is hoping for. If 2009 was any indication, it should happen.

“I think the staggering thing is how resilient the poker community was in relation to the global economy,” Palansky said. “We did prepare for a down year in the number of participants, based on how the economy was. We thought that it would have a bigger impact on us than it did.”

Discussion: 9 comments so far…

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy.

By MrZeitz

Nov. 18, 2009

7:13 a.m.

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Long live the W.S.O.P. Can't wait until next year.
By dodgerchuck

Nov. 18, 2009

9:07 a.m.

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do you really think those poker-pukes care about the fourth of july
By rodtig

Nov. 18, 2009

9:17 a.m.

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Hmmmm!!!! These Guys of the WSOP might be regular people with Logical Ideas.
I have recently commented on several articles about the Gamming Industry here in Las Vegas about how they could Draw more people here and I rang the same tune Mr.Palansky just said in this article.Price Yourselves Right and People Will Come.Sounds like this group knows how to keep going and find ways to draw people to their venue.Then they plan to make changes to accomodate more players.That sounds like better customer service.These folks need to patten these ideas and sell them to the Las Vegas Casinos.Oh! That's right the Casino Execs are not smart enough to even figure that out on their own.
Mr.Palansky,you and your staff need to be hired to operate some of the strip casinos here in Vegas.You guys could single handily start helping this economy.
Then the WSOP Staff feels it doesn't need a top chief also. That you all have built a working relationship as a team to operate such large events without one person at the helm,I commend the WSOP staff for their smart decissions and desire to suceed and acknowledge what works in tough economic times.
I am not a poker player at all but I do enjoy watching it on TV from time to time or watch at the casinos from a distance.
I will definately support the WSOP more by watching on TV to help boost their ratings.
The comments by Mr.Palansky are the most intelligent I have heard since I moved to Las Vegas 10 months ago.WSOP staff keep up the good work and Ideas
By dodgerchuck

Nov. 18, 2009

9:30 a.m.

Suggest removal

hey the pukes are playing against each other.why should the casinos' have any interest in them.there was a reason why all of the poker rooms in town closed.they werent cost effective. the space was better used for other purposes.
By GrandmaCrabby

Nov. 18, 2009

12:15 p.m.

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Gee, at all the poker rooms in town where I play, they don't seem to know they're closed.
By aroundworld365

Nov. 18, 2009

6:55 p.m.

Suggest removal

its pure insanity. Betting millions on the whim of how cards come out.

Quit tryng to connect math with poker. The math you need is 4th grade math at highest and thats all. These are crazy gamblers trying to justify why they bet millions on a 20% chance of winning. They try to turn make themselves up to be some math savants.

Cada is one of worst poker player seen on TV. Jerry Yang was brilliant compared to him. Cada had no strategy other than to get lucky. And he did. Over and over and over. Poker is Gambliing. There is no poker pro. You can call yourself pro if you can see the others card 100% of the time and win the pot before the river everytime. Seen anyone do that? Not likely. Thats why poker is gambling.
By GrandmaCrabby

Nov. 19, 2009

6:04 a.m.

Suggest removal

aroundworld, there's a saying among pros: "Don't tap on the glass." Meaning "don't disturb the fish." If you want to believe that there is no math which applies to poker, and you want to approach it as pure gambling, that's just fine with them.
By GrandmaCrabby

Nov. 21, 2009

7:19 a.m.

Suggest removal

Another delayed response. Cada did get lucky several times at the final table. But keep a few things in mind.

First, if you got your impressions from watching the coverage on ESPN, you only saw a tiny fraction of the hands played. Naturally, ESPN concentrated on the dramatic, "wow" hands. As somebody who was there watching almost every day during the first 8 days in July, and who stuck it out until 6 a.m. as the final table played down to the last 2, I would say that Cada played very well, consistently, over the long haul.

Second, Cada's apparent luck is magnified when we see the cards his opponent had, but think about the decisions he made before his opponent's cards were known.

Example: after Eric Buchman wa eliminated, the table was down to three players. Cada was dealt a pair of deuces. In three-handed play, any pair is a monster, even 2's. On average, a player will only be dealt a pocket pair once every 17 hands. Therefore, the odds that either of his opponents had a bigger pocket pair were very small. Cada went all in and Saout called with pocket queens. Cada got lucky when he drew a third 2, but Cada was unlucky that his pocket pair ran into a higher pair to begin with.

Three hands later, Saout went all in with pocket 8's and Cada called with Ace-King. Again, Cada's hand was a monster three handed. Given that pocket pairs only come around once in 17 hands on average, A-K is also a monster. In three handed play, players will go all in with a much wider range of hands. Saout would have gone all in with hands like A-Q, A-J, K-Q, or even J-10. Cada's A-K would have been a favorite against many of the hands that Saout would have shoved with. As it was, it was basically a coin flip after Cada called the all in. Cada did get lucky to draw the king on the river, but the fact that he got lucky doesn't mean he played badly. He made a good decision.

Anyone who wins a major tournament has to get lucky at key points, but it takes skill too. You have to make a lot of good decisions. I think Saout and Ivey played the best of the final nine. (Ivey was stealing an extra blind every round on average). But Cada was no chump. He's a good player whose skills put him in a position to take advantage of his luck when he got it.