Posts - May 2008
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Ok, I Promise
May 31, 2008I promise you, the reader, that this is not going to become a ‘Rah-Rah’ blog. But, something else is working really well at the WSOP…or should I say isn’t a factor at all.
No lines.
Last year, I watched people stand in line for hours to play in the first $1,500 No Limit Event. Some may have waited as long as 7 or 8 hours to register for the event. I had a couple friends who woke up at 4:30am to register…they still waited an hour.
No such issue this year, as internet pre-registration, the ‘soft launch’ mentioned in my last post, and the better organization and pre planning have paid off. I haven’t seen more than 10-15 people in the registration line, and Rio director of Customer Service Joe Scibetta doesn’t think there has been “more than 25 in the registration line since we opened."
Obviously, I can’t be outside registration all the time, but I have looked every time I pass by, and its clearly a big improvement over last year. Here’s a little photographic reminder of the line saga from 2006.
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Good Idea Number One
May 31, 2008This is my fourth year covering the WSOP here at the Rio. Many an idea for ‘improvements’ have been floated and tried over the last several years. Some have worked, some have not. This year, however, someone had the brightest idea since the tournament moved to the Rio.
They called it the ‘soft opening’. Meaning that the doors would open, and the action would start before any bracelet events were live. This gave everyone working at or around the WSOP some time to a) set up, b) work out the kinks, c) take a breath, and d) better prepare for the onslaught of humanity that would be the first $1,500 No Limit event (which starts today).
Yesterday was the first event of the WSOP. For the first time since the boom, it didn’t feel like everyone was completely on edge and about to explode. Never underestimate the human being’s need to feel comfortable and at ease. The ‘soft opening’ did just that for the staff, and when the unfettered onslaught of humanity enters the Rio for the $1,500 donkfest today, everyone working at the massive machine that is the WSOP will be 100% more prepared then they have been the past 2 years.
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Simple Man : Complex System
May 30, 2008One of the 352 people in the field today is Rafe Furst. Rafe has a connection to this event, as his WSOP bracelet is in Pot Limit Hold Em. Way back in 2006, Rafe came in first (readers: note that the king of the bad pun resisted the urge to claim that he finished ‘Furst’) in a field of over 1,100 people to take down his first bracelet.
Rafe has many passions. He’s very involved in raising money for cancer. As a board member of the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, Rafe is right in the heart of the battle, on the front lines of cancer prevention.
Rafe is also very interested in the field of ‘complex systems’. Wikipedia describes Complex Systems as “a scientific field, which studies the common properties of systems considered complex in nature, society and science. It is also called complex systems theory,” Rafe writes a blog which mostly focuses on complex systems called ‘Complex Adaptive Systems’, which applies many of the studies from his Stanford Education (he has a Masters in Computer Systems).
If you are looking for a deep think, you may want to check out Complex Adaptive Systems. Most would say Rafe is not as serious as his passions would indicate, but judging by this picture, and his blog…I’m not convinced.
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The Spectacle of the Hallway
May 28, 2008Last year, it was the 'flying money machines', which would circulate air, and phony money around (sometimes not very successfully) to catch the eye of the poker fan as they entered the WSOP.
This year, the hallway looks way more impressive than it has in past years, with plasma screens (and Krispy Kremes) lining the hallway at least a couple hundred yards before you reach the Amazon room.
This year, one of the things designed to catch your eye in the Rio hallway is this.
What is that, you say??
Its a stand where a person will sing for the passersby in the hallway. They have these in the main casino at the Rio. A cocktail waitress/singer (aka a 'double threat') will sing their best version of some of today's terrific contemporary hits. It will be interesting to see how the poker fans react to being sung to as they walk their way down the hallway toward their inevitable quest for poker immortality.
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The Best Description Of What Its Like To Work At the WSOP
May 27, 2008My colleague Nicole 'Change 100' Gordon wrote a terrific post about what its like to work at the WSOP. Check it out at her blog, Pot Committed.
I thought the especially relevant point was not about what its like to work at the WSOP, but what its like for your friends and family when you work at the WSOP. Four years in, my friends and family have pretty much understood that the calls will be returned post Main Event final table...and that no, I'm not dead - I'm just in WSOP jail.
Any friends of mine reading....I'm off to jail. Talk to you July 16th.
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Five Days and Counting….
May 26, 2008The annual stressfest known as the World Series of Poker will kickoff this coming Friday at the Rio. We spent the better part of the last four months assembling a coverage team from all over the world that will follow the players through the Amazon Room for all 55 events this year.
New this year – native language coverage. We had our Dutch team in the house last year, but this year we are adding languages and will have more choices, and more coverage of players from all over the world – in their local language.
On the video front, as some of you may have noticed, we have a fab new video player at PokerNews. In addition, we have two new hostesses to introduce to the poker world. Oh, make no mistake – you’ll have no shortage of Tiffany Michelle, and Amanda Leatherman – both of whom are on the team this year. But, you will also get to meet Emily and Melissa, both of whom come to us from other various news/hosting duties. We think you will be pleased.
It all kicks off on Friday, with the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold Em Championships. My over/under number for the size of the field is 165.5. What side of that do you want?
