In June a record 160+ TDs from 26 countries attended Poker TDA Summit VI at the fabulous Venetian Las Vegas. These dedicated professionals volunteered time, money, and energy to make their votes count on matters of vital importance to our industry. Thanks to their efforts, the 2013 TDA Rules are in final review and scheduled for release the week of August 5th.

If you attended TDA Summit VI, we would greatly appreciate your sending in any comments or reflections on the event, along with any photos (and description of same) to: TDAGroup@PokerTDA.com.

To join the on-going discussion on tournament rules and management, visit the Poker TDA Forum. Also, if you would like to earn TDA Certification, click here.

Summit VI was made possible by our gracious hosts at the Venetian Las Vegas. Thanks are due everyone at the Venetian, especially to Kathy Raymond (Director of Poker Operations) and Tommy LaRosa (Tournament Director). Kathy and Tommy made sure the event ran like clockwork and contributed much to the debate during the proceedings.

The generous support of Genesis Gaming and the Global Poker Index (GPI) was also key to the success of Summit VI. Check out all the features of Genesis Bravo Poker and Bravo Poker Live and learn how these cutting-edge systems can help you attract and retain customers! The Global Poker Index is rapidly becoming one of the world’s most important player ranking systems and poker information portals. Visit the GPI website to learn more! Complete video archives of the Summit are available here courtesy of professional poker videographer Rob Perelman.

Lastly, a standing ovation is due our three new extraordinary TDA Board members: Jack Effel, Tab Duchateau, and Neil Johnson. Jack, Neil, and Tab bring years of global tournament experience to enrich the Association. Their leadership at Summit VI confirms the trust that over 2000 TDA members had in unanimously nominating them to the Board!

On behalf of the entire Association, thank you for your attendance at TDA Summit VI. We look forward to hearing from you soon, and will notify you when the 2013 TDA Rules are released.

Jack Effel expects a “huge and great” 2012 World Series of Poker.

It certainly won’t be a quiet one.

“The poker room is not church,” Effel, the tournament director for the past 6 years, told poker media today. “You can talk in the poker room. We just feel that we need to set the tone to put the fun back into poker.”

A trimmed down WSOP TD Jack Effel promises to go easy on players who want to chat it up at the tables this year.

Table talk and celebration are allowed once again — and even encouraged, Effel and WSOP executive director Ty Stewart said.

“We’re going to relearn what it’s like to be at a poker table, understanding the verbal strategy,” Effel said.

Just don’t expose your cards, or talk when someone else has yet to act. Essentially, you can yap all you want if you’re closing the action.

This is something of a level, as one reporter pointed out: WSOP knows the ESPN cameras are on all the players who know the cameras are on them.

“We’ve rewritten the rules to say we want you to celebrate, just don’t get crazy,” Effel added, putting the kibosh on the 4-year-old “Hevad Khan rule.”

Players at a feature table are even required to announce their action.

At any given point between May 27 and July, there will be as many as 500 poker tables at the Rio. That’s the largest ever for a single event, Effel said.

This year’s WSOP offers 61 bracelets for events including a $1,500 “ante only” event, a $2,500 4-max event, a $3,000 heads-up NL/PLO event, and a $5,000 mix-max event. They’ve also added a couple quirky non-bracelet events, such as the $560 bracelet bounty, where players receive $500 for knocking out a bracelet winner, and a $560 (per player) doubles tournament, where players share a chip stack and alternate at each level.

They also announced the return of daily deep stack tournaments.

Stewart feels good about the prospect of a “second boom for poker,” even with Full Tilt player funds in limbo a year after Black Friday.

“This game is stronger than we all even hoped,” he said. “It has become truly global, and it is here to stay. It appears poker’s darkest days are behind us.”

A few other highlights from the conference call:

• With a series of satellite events and a $25,000 mega satellite, the directors expect to fill the 48-player $1 million One Drop charity tournament to reach capacity.
• Instead of the standard food comp, players this year will receive Caesars Total Reward credits for bracelet events based on the size of the buy-in.
• The main event final table has been pushed up to Oct. 28, instead of the following month, when it would have interfered with the presidential election.

Getting caught up and back in the swing of things — slowly but surely — so what better way than to listen to the most recent episode of The Poker Beat?

The Poker Beat: July 22, 2010
[audio:http://www.pokerroad.com/download/the-poker-beat:74]

Rookie twitterer @GaryWise1 took his turn in Capt. Huff’s chair as @BJNemeth and @JessWelman panel-bantered about:

• The pre-markup hearing in DC with Annie Duke
• Make-up of the 2010 November Nine
• The value, if any, of poker agents — and how the WSOP accommodates them during the main event
• BJ’s philosophical non-dilemma over coverage of Matt Affleck’s emotional bustout *
• The difference between poker media and poker journalism
• The Year of Mizrachi and the accidental WTF? of the current WSOP Player of the Year scoring system
• Annette Obrestad’s B- performance
• The 3-headed Monster of Team WSOP without @JeffreyPollack
• WSOP numbers and final table times

* great explanation, BJ. But question … Is there any discernable line where the “field of play” in poker begins, and ends?

Other episode-relevant links:

The Redemption of Matt Affleck by Gary Wise
The Long, Lonely Walk of Matt Affleck by Howard Swains (with photos by Joe Giron)

Next ep coming tomorrow. Play along in the PokerRoad forums.

In what some consider a controversial decision, tournament director Jack Effel decided to stop play with 1:15:44 left in level 16 (2,500/5,000 w/ 500 ante) to have the 751 players remaining (747 make the money) take their 90-minute dinner break. Effel’s explanation was that they needed time to prepare for paying the players who bust out immediately after the bubble bursts. The field had planned to start hand-for-hand play before the announcement. The current leader is Theo Jorgensen with 1,325,000 in chips. Other notables: Matt Affleck (1.26m), Tony Dunst (1.18m), Phil Galfond (1.05m), Adam Levy (840k), Johnny Chan (785k), Jean-Robert Bellande (753k), David Benyamine (630k), Scotty Nguyen (540k) and Eric Baldwin (500k). Also in the field are all 4 Mizrachi brothers: Robert 310k, Michael 118.5k, Donny 115k and Eric 60k.

Gavin Smith and Jason Somerville discuss the decision with Wicked Chops Poker.

Notables who were eliminated earlier today: Matt Savage, Annie Duke, JJ Liu, Hank Azaria, Robert Varkonyi, Dan Harrington, Erica Schoenberg and Barry Greenstein. Team Pokerati’s only remaining hope (?), The Big Randy, was eliminated in early action.
Follow the action on the money bubble with play resuming at 8:30pm at wsop.com.

The final opening day of the Main Event drew a field of 2,391 hopefuls to the Pavilion and Amazon rooms at the Rio on Thursday afternoon. Football Hall of Famer/Dancing with the Stars winner Emmitt Smith kicked off the festivities with the “Shuffle up and play” command, before deciding to go with the traditional “shuffle up and deal”. According to Pauly’s semi-live blog, he initially refused to sign the ESPN waiver, possibly still bitter about the Worldwide Leader getting rid of him a couple years ago. After finally signing the waiver, he was eliminated a short time later. Among the notables who also had an early day: Joe and Tony Hachem, Doug Lee, Sorel Mizzi, Allen Kessler, John Juanda, Phil Gordon, Brian Townsend, Steve Dannenmann, Michael Craig and Pam Brunson.

After nine hours of play, 1,699 players get to return Saturday afternoon for day 2b. The reported day 1d leader is Steve Billiarakis with 187,150 in chips. Some other notables returning on Saturday include: Archie Karas (137,775), David Benyamine (130,800), Vanessa Rousso (111,050), Jason Mercier (90,525), Frank Kassela (87,000), Darvin Moon (78,400), Kara Scott (69,625), Barry Greenstein (53,625), Doyle Brunson (52,425), 97-year old Jack Ury, (40,500), Bryan Micon (36,400) and Shawn Sheikhan (32,900). The full list of chip counts is available at wsop.com. The day 2b table draw is available here, you can also find it on my Twitter as well.

Day 2a gets underway at 12pm with over 2,400 players returning, scheduled to play 4 levels. The 90-minute dinner break will be held after 3 levels are played, which would mean the middle of level 8, although that has not been confirmed by tournament director Jack Effel at this time. For those looking for the day 2a table draw, it’s available in PDF and spreadsheet form. During the day, be sure to check out wsop.com and your favorite Twitter followers and find out what’s going on at the World Series of Poker.

UPDATE: Day 1 of the Main Event will play 60 minutes of level 5. The 90-minute dinner break will take place at the end of level 3.

The World Series of Poker, to most people who don’t follow poker, finally gets underway this afternoon with day 1a of the $10,000 No-Limit Holdem World Championship, better described as the Main Event. A field of 6,500 players are expected to show up at the Rio in Las Vegas, seating themselves at tables in the Amazon and Pavilion rooms, hoping their two chips and a chair will turn into something much larger over the next 12 days when the last 9 players return in November to play down to a winner.

The main concern for this year’s Main Event will be if Thursday’s day 1d, which had the highest number of pre-registered players, may mean some players could be shut out. Throw in the schedule (four two-hour levels scheduled for each day 1), and it’s possible not enough players will be eliminated on days 1a and 1b to accommodate the much larger fields expected for days 1c and 1d.

While the Main Event gets underway today with updates at PokerNews and wsop.com, or follow Pauly’s live blog. There’s still two more bracelets to be awarded today along with the rest of Sunday’s action.

Alaei wins 10k PLO

The final table of the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship concluded with Daniel Alaei defeating Miguel Proulx heads-up to win $780,599, along with his third career WSOP bracelet. Proulx, winner of the $2,500 PLO event earlier this WSOP, collects $482,265 for the runner-up finish. Full results and Nolan Dalla’s tournament report coming soon at wsop.com.

Huck Seed, TOC winner

The final day of the WSOP Tournament of Champions concluded with 1996 Main Event winner Huck Seed defeating Howard Lederer heads-up, winning $500,000. Lederer adds $250,000 to his results, with Johnny Chan earning $100,000 for third. Full results at wsop.com.

1k, 2.5k final tables today

The final two preliminary bracelet events will be awarded this afternoon, both with a start time scheduled for 3pm, but the Main Event may throw a hitch in those plans. Follow the updates at PokerNews or wsop.com. First, here’s the final table for the $1,000 No-Limit Holdem:

More…

photo: BJ Nemeth

A shocker but not really … Jeffrey Pollack and Harrah’s are breaking up.

The WSOP Commissioner, President, and Twitterer in Chief‘s last day with Harrah’s and the World Series is today.

“I’ve made the decision after four years of successfully leading the WSOP as a global sports and entertainment property,” he says. “[Today] is my last day. Friday the 13th.”

Pollack — who has never played a poker tournament — took over the reigns shortly after the 2005 WSOP, the first year Harrah’s ran the 35-year-old tournament series bought from Binion’s.

The list of accomplishments under his aegis include drawing more competitors from more countries (putting it on par with the Olympics in terms of numbers), supporting women in poker, helping Don Cheadle and Annie Duke build Ante Up for Africa into a Hollywood A-list charity event, and working closely with players (via the Players Advisory Council) to steadily improve what is undeniably the biggest and arguably the best annual festival of poker tournaments in the world. He credits his team for incorporating TV broadcasting (most recently securing a new long-term contract with ESPN), new media, sponsorship, licensing, and summer-time side events that have made the Rio a real home for the WSOP and part of sure-to-endure poker lore.

“I’ve achieved everything I set out to do and more,” Pollack says.

More…

Pomp and circumstance is underway … and a betuxed TD Jack Effel began with a lesson on “poker fan etiquette”. Jack’s rules:

• Cheer and clap all you want
• Do not, however, interfere with play in any way by screaming “Go All In!” or “Don’t do that!”
• Scream all you want
• Please don’t boo.

[Editor’s Note: Booooo!]

• No flash photography

With all that explained, Jack “Link’s” Effel (who’s clearly been studying the works of the Buffer Brothers and touring rock bands) tried to rally the crowd to see who had the biggest cheering section. In terms of volume, Joe Cada’s rail-gang was clearly the loudest. “Joey! Joey! Joey!”

But in terms of style … Antoine Saout’s Frenchy hooligans definitely have it. They are all wearing Everest Poker soccer jerseys, with “Saout” on the back, along with Everest Poker scarves … and they’re showing us American sports fans don’t know a thing about local support songs.

As the mostly American crowd briefly paused to listen to whatever soccery song they were singing … Cada’s fans finally drowned them out with the creatively eloquent: “USA! USA! USA!”

We could see a change on the fly … according to hubbub I’m picking up on Pokerati’s Live Source feed, about 500 players have been shut out of the main event — which interestingly enough makes the semi-arbitrary difference between being bigger or smaller than last year — and the suits are discussing how to handle the situation … if anything beyond, “hey, sorry.”

What we’re picking up (from the likes of Shrink and others) is that Mike Sexton has been unofficially appointed the players’ ambassador, and he is representing them while speaking to Jack Effel, who is in consult with the other suits. Craziest option might be alternates. Adding a Day 1e also on the table.

Obviously we’ll all know soon enough how it turns out, as we don’t know how either of the above thoughts have been received.

UPDATE: Yet another possibility (via @timlavalli):

(Overheard) Start the late reg. players at 3 PM, have them play four levels and toss them in with the Day 1A-B players tomorrow.

Seems like they are considering everything. I’d like to throw out the possibility of bringing everyone back, reseating, re-daying, and just having a do-over.

Best anecdotes of near-mutiny here.

The Day 1c field has returned from its dinner break a few minutes ago, with two more levels to play today. The difference between this field and the first two Day 1’s is that the field as well as tomorrow’s field will play 5 two-hour levels. When Day 2a commences Tuesday, they’ll also play 5 two-hour levels, while the Day 2b field will play 4 levels. A field of 1,697 were registered today, and there’s a possibility that Monday’s Day 1d field could be sold out. If not, it will certainly be the largest Day 1 field with well about 2,300 already registered.

Notable names already eliminated: Annie Duke, Daniel Negreanu, Evelyn Ng, John Caldwell, Lacey Jones, Chino Rheem, and Jamie Gold. The unofficial leader at this time is Jeff Lisandro, looking for his 4th bracelet this year, leading the field with 132,000 in chips. Other notables with stacks include Hevad Khan (94,000), Joe Hachem (88,000), David Singer (78,000), Justin Bonomo (56,800), Brett “gank” Jungblut (51,000), Scotty Nguyen (49,000), and Dan Harrington (47,500). Other chip counts and live updates can be found at the wsop.com site here.

More updates later this evening from Team Pokerati, and another update from me in the morning recapping who’s left at the end of the night.

For those who missed it … or those who like to play the same song over and over again on CD or iPod … here’s the audio from today’s conference call — featuring WSOP Commissioner Chief Twitterer Jeffrey Pollack, WSOP Media Honcho Seth Palansky, WSOP Top Dog Tourney Director Jack Effel, and ESPN’s Senior Director of Programming and Free Online Poker Pimping Doug White, letting us know what’s in store for the 2009 poker haj:

WSOP Media Conference Call
April 28, 2009

[audio:https://pokerati.com/podcast/wsop-media-call-2009.mp3]

Pollack, Palansky, Effel, White, reporters

For a scan of what this hour+ call covers, check the live-blogging from Wicked Chops.

Today is the annual conference call done by the fine folks at the World Series of Poker (such as Jeffrey Pollack, Jack Effel, someone at Milwaukee’s Best, someone from Harrah’s etc), is scheduled to start at 10am PT. The audio usually turns up later in the day, and there’ll be some live blogging/commenting of the call, at least at Wicked Chops Poker. Can we set an over/under on the number of stupid questions that get asked by the non-poker media?

Jack Effel just introduced Tiffany Michelle to the crowd. Instead of cheers, she got booed!!!! A few cheers, but mostly boos, to which Effel said, “Don’t be hatin’.”

Jack Effel: “Players, you may now go on your 117-day break.”

I thought it would be extra funny if two people went out on the final hand … would’ve totally caused a “Doh!” moment to the folks who bought thenovembernine.com and thenovember9.com. (I’ll give you a hint, since I can’t link specifically to search results here.)

Craig Marquis made it! And even though he had the smallest cheering section of any player — save for maybe the stoic Russian — the dude from Dallas is clearly the man, and the only player who matters. St. Louis, Shmaint Louis!

In the meantime, while we figure out what’s up over the next almost-four months, you can see a few more details about the final table of the 2008 WSOP main event here.

Jack Effel and Oliver Tse

(Apologies for the blur, but I had to kick into full-on Stalkerati mode and take these shots while running.)