July 10, 2009
I've heard this a few places, but don't have any solid numbers from the WSOP.
The rumor is that since there are only 2,800 seats for each of the Day 1s, and around 500 people were turned away on Day 1D. Among those that were turned away were reported to be T.J. Cloutier and Patrik Antonius.
There were officially 6,494 players in this year tournament. If the 500 or so players were allowed to join, that would have put the total number of players at about 7,000, or about 150 more than last year (2008).
No idea why so many people waited to get in on Day 1D. If I had to guess, it's that they didn't want to have to wait several days to play again on Day 2A or 2B. If you're in a good rhythm on Day 1A, there would be three days of sitting around doing nothing until Day 2A, when you would play again. Where as if you play on Day 1D, you only have to wait a day to play in Day 2B.
I really think the WSOP should do something about that, but I don't see anything changing anytime soon. The Rio just can't hold any more people, and I doubt they would let it be held someplace else, as I'm sure it pulls in huge crowds.
Posted by Ghostshark under Poker | Comments (0)
July 7, 2009
The World Series Of Poker Main Event got a big shot in the arm yesterday as 2,809 entered the tournament on day 1D. That brought the total number of players to 6,494, just 350 people short of last year's total (6,844), and more people than in 2007 (6,349).
That's a really good turn out, concidering the number of players for the three previous day 1's were all down, making it look like it would be a much smaller field than last year. Reports state that there would have been even more players on day 1D, but they actually ran out of space for them.
This year's total prize pool is $61,043,600. This year's winner will take home over $8.5 million, and everyone who makes the final table is guaranteed to come away a millionaire.
You can follow PokerNews' coverage of Day 2A beginning today (Tuesday) at noon Vegas time, at the WSOP site HERE.
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July 6, 2009
The WSOP Main Event started on July 3rd, and will run through July 15th. Final numbers aren't out yet, but it looks like there's going to be fewer players than last year. I can't say that's really that unexpected, and probably says less about poker than it does about the current world economy.
It still looks like it's possible that there will be over 5,000 players, which is still huge. They are currently in the middle of Day 1C (Sunday), with 1D tomorrow (Monday). By Monday afternoon, they should have a final count of how many players there will be, and what the first place prize money will be. I'll try to get that update in tomorrow.
If you want to follow the events, you can hit the WSOP site HERE.
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June 22, 2009
These might be a little expensive for your weekly poker game at $4.95 a deck. Although it would be hard to find a better deck of cards. Here's the details from the site:
The US Playing Card Company introduced the world to Bee® Stingers through exclusive distribution to casinos internationally. Today, we offer them to YOU for the first time in history, with premium Aristocrat stock.
Stinger borders were originally developed as a countermeasure against card cheating. The fade to white border looks ultra-smooth, elegant, and simple. Previously only available after use in casinos worldwide, these are brand new – sealed in cellophane.
You can grab a deck at the Theory11 site HERE.
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June 17, 2009
I've mentioned that there's a number of blogs floating around, and as everyone else, poker players have taken up Twitter.
A lot of the big names are there, from Doyle Brunson, Howard Lederer, Barry Greenstein, Phill Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Jennier Harman, Allen Cunningham, Scotty Nguyen, and Daniel Negreanu, to the well known such as Paul Wasicka, David Williams, Chris Moneymaker, and Tom Dwan.
No idea how personal they get, or if it's jutt when they're at the poker table playing. The WSOP site has all of them on one single page, so you can keep updated on everyone all the time, or click on your favorite player and see what they've been up to.
I did like Doyle's last post though, as I just saw the High Stakes Poker that it refers to. Doyle said "Eastgate can kiss my butt. I slept 4 hours to b on time".
You can check them all out HERE, and of course find them on Twitter.
Posted by Ghostshark under Internet,Poker | Comments (1)
June 2, 2009
They are actually already on the 4th Event, out of a total of 57. There are already winners for the Casino Employees Event, the $40,000 buy-in 40th Annual Event, and the first Omaha Hi-Low Event.
The current event is the $1,000 Buy-in No-Limit Holdem Event that is currently in it's second day. There were 6,012 entrants, with a total prize pool of $5,410,800. You can follow it, and the other tournaments, at the official WSOP site HERE.
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May 21, 2009
I had never actually heard of Johnny Moss until recently. Bluff Magazine has an article naming him the #6 on the 40 Greatest Champions. Here's a little bit from the article written by Paul Oresteen, that I thought was amazing:
Moss had grown up with Benny Binion in Texas and the two were life long friends. In 1949 the world’s most famous gambler, Nick “The Greek” Dandalos, arrived at Binion’s Horseshoe Casino looking to play high stakes heads up poker. Binion immediately knew that Johnny Moss was the man to play him. In what would become poker’s most famous game, the precursor to the WSOP, Nick the Greek and Moss would play a five month long heads up match.
Binion, a master of publicity, put them in front of the casino to attract tourists and gamblers alike. No official records were kept but it’s guessed that Moss beat the Greek out of four million dollars before an exhausted Dandalos rose from the table and spoke poker’s most famous quote, “Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.”
They played heads up, for five months, and the Greek lost four million dollars in 1949. That's the equivalent of about $30 million if they played today.
You can read the rest of the article HERE, and check out the Johnny Moss tribute page HERE.
Posted by Ghostshark under Poker | Comments (0)
February 4, 2009
The Blue Chip Casino & Hotel in Michigan City, Indiana has opened their new 22-story hotel and spa. The Spa Blu Tower was part of a $130 million dollar expansion that added 300 new rooms, 60 suites, two restaurants, an event center, and luxury spa.
Rooms start at around $95 (more on the weekends of course), and are your pretty standard 415 square feet in size with the usual amenities. The suites start at around 560 square feet and go all the way up to the The Loft at 1,575 square feet. The Loft has wrap around glass exterior walls that offer stunning views of Lake Michigan, a bathroom with a deep-soaking bathtub, three sinks, and a walk-in shower with dual shower heads and body sprayers, large living room, dining room, and in-room bar. They also state that "All of these extravagant amenities are separated by beautifully sculpted “living glass” partitions."
The Casino itself (which is the important part of course) is still considered a "riverboat", but has 65,000 square feet of gaming all on level. They even have a dedicated poker room, which I think is a necessity.
You can check out their new digs over at the Blue Chip home page HERE.
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Posted by Ghostshark under Gambling,Poker | Comments (0)
January 29, 2009
There's a few interesting additions and changes for this year, but the final table delay is still there.
The World Series of Poker have released their 2009 schedule. There will be two more chances to win a bracelet this year, as the series will have 57 events this year. Two more than 2008.
There will also be a premiere $40,000 no-limit hold’em event to commemorate the 40th annual World Series of Poker. You can bet that all of the big names will be playing in that one.
One change this year is that all four of the 2008 re-buy events were removed. The reason, according to WSOP Communications Director Seth Palanksy, was that “There is the growing concern that a pro can buy a bracelet in a rebuy event.”
The Series starts on May 27, and the $10,000 main event will begin on July 3. The main event will again be suspended once they get down to nine players on July 15. The final table will be played from Nov. 7-10.
I'm not a fan of the four month layoff until the final table, but reports are that the 2008 TV ratings were up 50% over 2007, so I doubt it's going away anytime soon.
You can look through the whole schedule over at Cardplayer HERE.
Posted by Ghostshark under Poker | Comments (2)
January 20, 2009
While these cards probably shouldn't be used for your average poker game, you should have a deck or two for those rare occasions when you want style and functionality.
Ellusionist.com has created some very impressive decks of cards. Not only that, but each deck is made of very high quality material, which helps with the magic side of things, but also makes them impressive for an evening of poker.
The Tally-Ho Black Viper deck are black, reverse-image playing cards with a buffed, metallic silver finish.
The Shadow Masters is a unique hand designed deck with a darkness and shadow theme.
For something a little different, there's the Vintage Series 1800 Deck, are made to look like a deck that was made in the 1800's.
There's also the Ghost and Black Ghost decks.
You can check out all of the decks at their site HERE. Each of these will cost you a little more, at around $7, but they're well worth it.
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