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Chuck Blount on poker: World Series plans heavy on Hold 'Em but light on variety
Published: 2005-11-03
 San Antonio Express-News
The ESPN cameras have yet to air the footage of Joseph Hachem's 2005 Main Event victory at the World Series of Poker, but Harrah's recently announced plans for 2006 already have opened the doors for debate.
Because of convention bookings at the Rio's facilities in Las Vegas, the first event of the World Series will be pushed back almost a month to June 26 (this year's was June 2) and won't end until Aug. 10 with the crowning of the 2006 world champion and 43 other bracelet winners.
When you look at the schedule (available at worldseriesofpoker.com), the first thing you notice is that the overwhelming majority of the events (35) are forms of Texas Hold 'Em with buy-ins hovering around the $1,500 mark.
It's hard to fault this logic from Harrah's perspective. Harrah's is in the business of making money, and Hold 'Em is the meat and potatoes of the poker world. Every Hold 'Em event offered will be sure to bring in thousands of players and a tremendous amount of tournament fees for the casino.
I especially applaud the inclusion of a standard $1,000 no-limit freeze-out tournament slated for July 10. This tournament will allow a lot of novices that may not have the bankroll to play in the larger events a chance to taste a championship poker against the game's top pros.
But there are too many Hold 'Em events.
Winning a bracelet at the World Series of Poker is supposed to be the crowning achievement in a player's career. Is it really in the best interests of poker's rich history to give out seven bracelets in $1,500 buy-in no-limit tournaments alone?
"The current proposal dilutes the value of a bracelet in no-limit Hold 'Em since there are so many of those available," longtime pro Barry Greenstein said. "We all know that they will get more entries the way they have done (the schedule), but they are not thinking long term. I think they need to keep the uniqueness that the World Series of Poker used to have."
Andy Bloch took it even further and compared it to the ultimate horror in the life of a full-time poker player: having a regular job.
"For a tournament that is mostly Hold 'Em, five weeks of preliminary events is too long," Bloch said. "Getting up in the morning to play the same game every day is too much like work."
The space and the time slots needed for all of the Hold 'Em events in the Rio's Amazon Room have come at the expense of the other games, where they either have been eliminated or forced to share time with other tournaments.
Seven-card stud — one of the oldest and most popular forms of poker — took the biggest hit with only three events scheduled, and one of them shares a day with — of course — a pot-limit Hold 'Em event.
There are five Omaha events scheduled, and three share time with other events.
"Looking at the days that have two open events in the new schedule, it seems like Harrah's is trying to kill most of the remaining non-Hold 'Em tournaments," Bloch said. "More than anything else, the schedule shows a lack of consultation with the players who supported the WSOP for the 30-plus years before the television explosion."
I love Hold 'Em as much as any junkie, but Bloch and Greenstein are right. Just like television likes to ruin a good idea by saturating the market with rip-offs, Harrah's has to be careful that its vision for the World Series of Poker leaves room for variety.
The LINGO
Freeze-out: When a player is out of chips, he or she is out of the tournament.
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Poker All-Stars Square Off For 2005 Tournament Of Champions
Published: 2005-11-02
Many of the biggest names in poker will descend on Caesars Palace next week to compete for $2 million in total prize money at the 2005 World Series of Poker® Tournament of Champions, Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. said.
The free-roll tournament is expected to feature, among others, the nine millionaires from the 36th annual World Series of Poker's Main Event final table as they go for another seven-figure payday. A free-roll is an event in which none of the participants is required to pay a "buy-in" or entry fee to compete.
The Tournament of Champions will be played Nov. 6 through Nov. 8. The winner will receive $1 million. ESPN, the exclusive broadcast partner of the World Series of Poker, will provide comprehensive coverage of the event, which is scheduled to be telecast from 1 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time Dec. 24, 2005.
"This is poker's All-Star event," said Jeffrey Pollack, vice president of sports and entertainment marketing for Harrah's Entertainment. "Some of the top names in the game will travel from around the globe to Caesars Palace for a chance at a huge payday and bragging rights."
"The Tournament of Champions will be a great culmination of our World Series of Poker coverage this year," said Fred Christenson, director of programming for ESPN Original Entertainment. "With its high-stakes action and some of the best known players in the game, we expect this event to draw very strong ratings."
"Caesars Palace has a long history of hosting world-class sporting events, and this one-of-a-kind tournament will continue that legacy," said Gary Selesner, senior vice president and general manager of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. "This promises to be a spectacle no poker fan can afford to miss."
In all, nearly 120 players earned invitations to the Tournament of Champions. In addition to the nine players who made the final table at the 36th annual World Series of Poker Main Event, top finishers in five World Series of Poker Circuit events held in the 2004-05 season are also eligible. Among professionals who've committed to play are 10-time World Series of Poker bracelet winners Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan, and nine-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.
The World Series of Poker is owned and operated by Harrah's Operating Company, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Harrah's Entertainment. Caesars Palace is a Harrah's-operated casino.
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