WSOP Week One

In the past, the first week of the WSOP had been crazy. There were tons of players with lots of money and the cash games and tournaments were packed. This year seems quiet in comparison. The cash-game area isn’t nearly as busy as I expected. Tournament participation is down 10% or more over last year. As an example, the Colossus, which is the major lead- off event for low rollers, had 22,374 in 2015, 21,613 last year, and only 18,054 this year.

It could be that poker is in a downswing, never having recovered from Black Friday of April, 2011, when Internet poker was outlawed for good. In Las Vegas, the poker industry is struggling, with many poker room closures over the past few years. However, outside of Vegas, in places like Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland and, of course, California, poker seems alive and well, so I think other factors are affecting the WSOP.

Many newer players don’t have the affinity for the WSOP that I do. They missed out on the Horseshoe years, when it was truly a great experience. To me, there’s nothing more exciting than getting deep in a WSOP event. However, all the Internet generation knows of the WSOP is the Rio, where concerns for the players has always taken a back seat to corporate profits. Although I think it’s much better than it was the first few years at the Rio, I hear few compliments and a lot of complaining. However, poker players are known for bitching about almost everything, so don’t take that as a condemnation, although they do make a lot of good points.

The major factor could be simple competition. Poker room managers around town know that Vegas will be packed with poker players in June and July, and are doing their best to siphon players from the Rio. Every major poker room in town is having a tournament series running concurrently with the WSOP, most with lower buy-ins. Players who would save up to take a shot in a WSOP event or two are now playing multiple smaller events at these other venues. When they get busted in a tournament, they get in side-games in that room, rather than going to the Rio.

A WSOP bracelet used to be the holy grail of poker. Unfortunately, the prestige of the bracelet has been diminished. For one thing, in my opinion, there are too many bracelets awarded these days, both at the Rio and overseas. For another, as the halcyon days of the WSOP fade, the quest for the bracelet has become less of a motivating factor. I’d love to see the WSOP recapture its former status, but I don’t see it happening, at least not until Internet poker makes a strong comeback.

In other news, I asked Tournament Director Jack Effel about my complaint that the Seniors event is always on Father’s Day weekend. He told me that they tried moving it one year, and he got hundreds of complaint letters from fathers saying that it’s the only time their wives let them out to play poker. Hmmm. Like I said last time, I don’t care about Father’s Day, but what I don’t like is that it’s always on US Open golf weekend, which I used to use as a mid-tournament break. The Seniors is too good an event to skip, so I’ll have to settle for taping golf. Maybe if I write to the USGA?

The WSOP valet outside the poker venue is no longer there. People wanting to valet must go to the front of the hotel. I don’t mind at all, because I don’t valet, and it opens up many of the close parking spaces that often sat empty. It makes self-parking much better. I asked Jack about it, and as it turns out, he got a lot of complaints about the self-parking situation, and felt that he’d make more players happy by removing the valet than keeping it. And the players he’s made happy aren’t the high rollers, who are going to play at the Rio anyway, but rather the low rollers who he’s fighting to keep.

As for me, I haven’t gotten off the ground yet. It’s always a bit frustrating to get off to a slow start, but there’s plenty of poker left!