Getting the Gold: First Bracelet Ceremony of the WSOP
(Warning: Sarcasm-free blog post. Enjoy it or hate it while it lasts.)
It was one of the best ideas that Commissioner Pollack and crew implemented in years. Starting yesterday, the bracelet ceremonies are in full effect to honor every event winner with a moment in the spotlight. Instead of winners like Andrew Cohen being given his bracelet in the wee hours of the morning when exhaustion mixes with emotion for a sometimes unfulfilling chaotic moment in time, he was honored as the Event 1 Casino Employees World Champion in the middle of the Amazon Room where the eyes of the fans, media, and fellow players were on him. Call me a sap, but it was a touching moment.
Every 2009 WSOP bracelet winner will receive the same treatment. And in a sea of players and tournaments and Day 1’s and Day 2’s and cash games and fan-filled aisles of people, the 2:20pm ceremony each day will be a refreshing few minutes that reminds everyone of why we’re all here.
BJ Nemeth says:
May 31st, 2009 at 4:51am
I love the bracelet ceremonies, and I think many of the haters will eventually come around. I was present at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, when they had daily medal ceremonies for the first time. (Before that, medals were awarded in each venue, sometimes mere minutes after the athletes finished — the swimmers were usually still wet.)
The medal ceremonies were criticized at first, but they eventually won over most of the critics. Anyone who doesn’t like the bracelet ceremonies wasn’t with me covering Erik Seidel’s 8th bracelet in 2007, past 2:00 am the night before the Main Event started. Many people at the Rio didn’t get the news for several days that Seidel, fifth on the all-time list, had picked up another bracelet.