Poker Christmas is right around the corner … (79 days away) … and to answer all sorts of questions, the Harrah\’s-bonded powers that be held an electronic press conference for about 30 phone-in poker media people. (And at least one online site that wasn\’t supposed to be there, and one AP reporter who didn\’t seem to understand why the WSOP doesn\’t know how big the first-prize payout will be yet.)
On the line for the one-hour call were:
Jeffrey Pollack — WSOP Commissioner
Jack Effel — WSOP Tournament Director
Howard Greenbaum — Head of Tournament Operations
Gary Thompson — WSOP Media Dude
We\’ll have the audio up shortly, but until then, click below to see all the items addressed.
(Pokerati pressed *1 to ask a question, but Holly, the teleconference moderator, was not able to get to us … so we were not able to ask Pollack how he likes to play suited connectors with an above-average chip stack in late position.)
2007-03-14 13:27:42
Greetings. 55 bracelet events this year. Hershey\’s is the official chocolate. WSOP Academy and WSOP Europe, oh yeah! And a fresh set-up of cards on every table of every bracelet event every day to boot!
13:36:22
1. \”what will be success at this year\’s WSOP?\” dismisses numbers as a barometer of quality.2. (burden county record is his paper of pollack\’s hometown) won\’t see much as much of an online presence.
– not accepting third-party registration* … can\’t comment on how they will do it for sites such as Full Tilt, PokerStars, et al.3. Harrah\’s will be getting aggressive in seeking to stop the unauthorized use of WSOP logo.
4. 10k entries for 10k main event? Pollack will never predict such a number, but they are using that figure for planning purposes.
5. Harrah\’s is building a \”poker superstructure\” next to the rio for future WSOPs.
6. date change — moving toward traditional springtime holding of WSOP, and ESPN has reasons for wanting this, too. will see events airing on tv quicker than ever.
7. more tables this year than last year.
8. \”the best poker card known to man — and that\’s the kem card.\”
9. moving live action away from tourney area. will have it\’s own cage. new registration process for single-table satellites, not at the tables.
10. training of dealers and staff
11. 300 dealers are going through training right now to become certified. need to know 16 different derivatives of poker. will use other dealers, but they will be back-up.
12. 55 bracelet events this year. many new events. $5k heads-up buy-in (?)
13. limit/no-limit mixed hold\’em event. $5k.
14. lots of extra \”world championships\” they\’re gonna call it that, just because.
15. starting chips in low buy-ins. (no clear answer)
16. they are having trouble with the worldseriesofpoker website.
17. media changes — expect this week, earlier next week. easing of some restrictions. larger media center for main event.
18. the Associated Press has little clue about poker … asking what the prize pool will be. — there is no cap. it\’s a planning number, Pollack reiterates.
AP reporter follows up, still wanting to know what the prize will be.
\”you have a calculator\”
19. you\’ll get a phone call from Jeffrey Pollack if hedline has 10,000 entries, or 10,000 cap in it.
20. PartyPoker (sites not serving us players) could be all over the WSOP — dot net and dot com. apparell rules are clearer. no apparel for any site that violates trademark rights. no dot-net, and espn has policies. will be enforced.
21. new chips this year … not chips from last year. \”the chip fiasco\” => mandatory staff training.
22. more on mixed events. they listen to the customers, their players.
23. pollack gets question from an online site operator. \”this call is not for you.\” guy says, \”ok, sorry. i got the email from you.\”
[poker may have to start figuring out the difference between online poker sites and media outlets. fine line.]24. amy wants free chocolate. she asks and she gets it! full bars, not just bite-sized … to be served to her by Ty Stewart.
25. expect more international players. and a wsop circuit event at the new horseshoe indiana.
26. if we didn\’t get to your question, we are here for you.
