BJ Nemeth

Posts - May 2008

• Record-Breaking Field Continues to Approach Maximum Capacity (360 seats left)

  May 31, 2008

  Update #1: As of 12:30 am, 3,736 players have registered, leaving a little more than 360 seats left. I'm willing to bet that the event will sell out before play begins at 12:00 noon.

  Update #2: I would have lost that bet. Event #2 came close, but didn't quite sellout. (There were 1,881 entrants on Day 1b out of a possible 2,050.) Regardless, it shattered all the expectations of everyone I spoke to before the WSOP.

  As of 8:15 pm PT, the total field for Event #2 has grown to 3,641 players, nearly 500 more than the previous record for a WSOP preliminary event. And it continues to grow, with a chance to reach the two-day capacity of 4,100 players.

  The maximum capacity according to Harrah's is 2,050 players per day, at least until an additional ballroom is added with 65 more poker tables on June 12th. Day 1a was technically a sellout, but I received word earlier today that two players were no-shows, and had apparently taken the last-minute steps necessary to get their money refunded.

  So there were 2,048 players for Day 1a, with another 1,593 already registered for Day 1b. There are about 450 seats still available for those who want to play, but I expect the event to completely sell out by noon tomorrow.

  It seems that the night-shift tournament director I spoke with last night was on the mark when he predicted a sellout.

  Where Does Everyone Play?
  For those who are interested, this is how a capacity crowd breaks down:

  Amazon Room: 158 tables*
  Tropical Room: 23 tables
  Near Buzio's Restaurant: 14 tables
  Rio Poker Room: 10 tables

  That adds up to 205 tables, for a capacity one-day field of 2,050. (*For the record, the total for the Amazon room does not include ESPN's TV table.)

  The Amazon Room is the main WSOP tournament room, and the Tropical Room is directly across the hall, where satellites are played most of the time. Buzio's seafood restaurant is a long walk, almost all the way back to the casino floor, and the Rio's poker room is further still, between the sportsbook and the bowling alley.

  Where is Brown Table #27?
  Within the Amazon Room, the four "quadrants" are designated with different colors: blue, orange, green, and brown. (Yesterday, the brown section was to be red, which was difficult to distinguish from the orange. So they changed it.) There are 50 tables in the blue section, 45 in orange, 16 in green (including ESPN's TV table), and 48 in brown.

  The curious thing? While the brown tables are labeled from 1-49, there is no brown table #27. It simply isn't there -- the numbered tables jump from #26 to #28. They originally planned to have five tables in a "high-stakes area," separated from the other tables by short walls about three feet high. It may have been a tight fit, so they removed one of the tables -- brown table #27.

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• Event #2 Will Be the Largest Prelim in WSOP History (UPDATED)

  May 30, 2008

  UPDATE: As of 1:30 am PT, registration has reached 3,006. A sellout is looking more and more likely, so if you hope to play in Event #2, you'd better register NOW.

  As of 8:00 pm PT this evening, there were already more than 2,500 players registered for Event #2 ($1,500 No-Limit Hold'em). At this point, they are spread rather evenly, with roughly 1,250 for Day 1a and 1,250 for Day 1b. The tournament official that I spoke with expects a sellout, but I think he might be a little over-optimistic.

  I have received slightly different reports on the total capacity for the next two days, with one source saying 207 tables and another claiming 196. (We'll know for certain tomorrow.) Starting on June 12th, another ballroom will become available, adding another 65 tables to the current capacity.

  So the current capacity appears to be about 2,000 players per day, for a total of 4,000 players. To reach full capacity, they'll need the 160 or so tables in the Amazon Room, the 23 tables that are currently being used for satellites in the Tropical Room, with the rest of the players being in other parts of the casino -- some near the Buzio's seafood restaurant, and others in the Rio poker room.

  The record field size for a WSOP preliminary event was set last year in Event #49 ($1,500 No-Limit Hold'em), when 3,151 players signed up. While I don't think tomorrow's Event #2 will be a complete sellout, I am predicting a record-breaking field of at least 3,500. That would also set a record for largest prizepool in a WSOP prelim, and probably the largest first prize in prelim history (not counting the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event for obvious reasons). It'll be interesting to see how close first prize comes to the $1 million mark.

  Other Notes:

  1. Back in the 2005 Main Event, Shawn Sheikhan berated a female dealer so much that she was reduced to tears. (And no, I won't be naming her here.) The other players agreed that he went way over the line, and he later apologized to her. But she never let it get to her, and she's returned to the WSOP each year since. Today, I noticed that she's been promoted to a floorperson in the cash game area. Congrats!

  2. There will be an experimental coding system for tracking players tomorrow for Day 2 of the $10,000 pot-limit hold'em event. There are cards on the table that allow the media to know every player's name even as they change seats and break tables. It was originally developed by Jonathan Raab in London, and then transitioned to the European Poker Tour (EPT), where it has been used with a lot of success. I'll discuss it in more detail tomorrow.

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• For the First Time at the Rio, Day 1 of the WSOP Starts on Time

  May 30, 2008

  The WSOP has been underway for more than three hours now, and the biggest story so far? For the first time in WSOP history at the Rio, the first event started smoothly and on time.

  Ever since the WSOP moved to the Rio, the first day has been a chaotic affair, with long lines and short tempers. But this year, even with some pre-game speeches and ceremonies involving the UNLV marching band, Doyle Brunson concluded it all with the traditional phrase, "Shuffle up and deal!" -- at exactly 12:00 noon. (In recent years, play was delayed as much as half an hour.)

  When play began today, there were no registration lines and the stress levels were low. With a $10,000 buy in, this first event only has 352 entrants, but it is an elite field including the best in the world. Those players were relaxed and catching up with friends that they hadn't seen in a while.

  Credit for a clean start on Day 1 goes primarily to a smoother registration process, and Harrah's has been really pushing their online registration. Even those of us in the media, who waited in long lines in past years to pick up our passes, were greeted with a quick and painless process to get credentials.

  Of course, the real test will be tomorrow, when thousands of players are expected for Event #2 ($1,500 No-Limit Hold'em). Today's smaller field gives the tournament staff some time to work out the kinks and get their feet wet. (While it's an experienced tournament staff, nothing compares to the WSOP.)

  The first glitch in the system? The tournament clocks seem to be running a bit fast. While the tournament started on time, the first break took place around 1:50 pm -- ten minutes early. It was quickly determined that the tournament clock software was running fast, so the staff added ten more minutes of Level 2 blinds when the players returned from break.

  Harrah's quickly had people looking into the clock problem, and for the time being, the tournament director will keep a separate clock to make sure the players get their full 60-minute levels.

  But compared to Day 1 glitches from prior years, this is minor. Certainly compared to the PokerPeek controversy from last year, where the newly designed cards were so hated that some players talked about a WSOP boycott.

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• WSOP '04: The Story Behind Doyle Brunson's Elimination

  May 27, 2008

  Introduction: My name is BJ Nemeth, and I'm just one member of the top notch PokerNews team assembled to provide the most comprehensive World Series of Poker coverage in history. I'll be using this blog to give our readers some insight into what's happening behind the scenes, dispelling rumors, and telling the stories behind the stories.

  The first time I covered the WSOP was 2004, when Greg "Fossilman" Raymer became champion. That was an exciting year -- the first WSOP after the poker boom hit full force, and the last WSOP to be held entirely at Binion's Horseshoe. With three times as many players in the Main Event (from 839 players to 2,576), the WSOP had become bigger than anyone thought possible at the time, forcing two starting days for the first time in history. Unfortunately, some of the best stories fell through the cracks that year, including this one ...

  The Story Behind Doyle Brunson's Elimination From the 2004 WSOP Main Event

  If you watched ESPN's broadcast of the 2004 WSOP, you saw Doyle Brunson's elimination late in the tournament. He was all in preflop with pocket tens against Bradley Berman's A-7 offsuit, and Berman flopped an ace to bust Doyle. I was sweating Doyle's table at the time, and witnessed the entire hand from start to finish.

  What ESPN didn't tell you is this: Neither player wanted to be in that situation.

  Nearly 98% of the field had already been eliminated when Doyle picked up 10-10 in late position. Doyle said, "All in," but didn't move any of his chips forward. The dealer repeated the action to confirm it, but Benny's Bullpen was so loud and packed with spectators that not everybody heard it.

  Bradley Berman didn't hear it. Berman was sitting in the small blind, and looked down to see A-7 offsuit. Figuring he was only up against the big blind, he said, "Raise." Oops. Once Berman was informed that Doyle was all in, he wanted to take his bet back and fold.

  WSOP Tournament Director Matt Savage made the correct ruling -- Berman's verbal declaration was binding, and the players were now all in against each other. Berman didn't have enough chips to risk calling an all in with a weak ace, and Doyle said he had a bad feeling and would rather pick up the blinds than have to sweat an overcard. Doyle was close friends with Bradley's father, Lyle Berman; they played together in the Big Game at Bellagio. Doyle didn't want to cripple Bradley on a mistake any more than he wanted to be eliminated himself. This was a no-win situation.

  That's when ESPN showed up with their cameras. Savage announced the action to the room as the board came A-5-5-3-J, and Doyle Brunson was eliminated in 53rd place on a hand that neither player intended. (Berman won that pot by pairing his ace, but he would bust in 31st place the next day.)

  As Doyle walked out of the room, all action came to a stop as every player in the room stood up to applaud a deep finish by one of the best players in poker history. Even the newcomers -- and there were many that year -- knew that Doyle deserved their respect. (Fortunately, this standing ovation was captured by ESPN's cameras.) It was such a powerful moment that WSOP announcers have tried to recreate it every year by asking the crowd to applaud when Doyle busts from the Main Event. But none of those prompted ovations ever gave me goosebumps the way that first one did.

  It's moments like these that I plan to share with PokerNews readers through this blog. In 2008, our goal is to let none of these stories slip through the cracks.

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