In 2008, the $1,000 Seniors’ No Limit Hold’em Championship at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) attracted a field of 2,218. Last year, 2,707 players turned out for the annual tournament, an increase of 22%. This year, the field size once again grew leaps and bounds, as 3,142 players age 50 and over turned out for the 2010 Seniors’ No Limit Hold’em Championship, an increase of 16%.
According to WSOP officials, Event #34 of the 2010 WSOP marks the largest Seniors’ Event in history and the largest field ever to sit down on one day at the WSOP, two superlatives that the tournament series will be hard-pressed to beat going forward. Harrah’s Communications Director Seth Palansky told Poker News Daily that the oldest player in the field during a quick check of the room was 92.
Palansky added, “We set a record last year and it was a huge increase year over year. It’s remarkable. The fact that we’re at 3,100 strong is pretty impressive. It shows there are a lot of people in a lot of age categories interested in poker.” Unlike the $1,000 Ladies’ No Limit Hold’em Championship, there do not appear to be any party-crashers this time around. During last Friday’s Ladies’ Event, a handful of males, including Shaun Deeb, turned out. Deeb took his presence one step further, dressing in drag complete with a straw hat, tank top, and fake set of breasts.
First place in the $1,000 buy-in Seniors’ Event is scheduled to pay $488,000, while the runner-up will earn $302,000. The top five players will collect a six-figure payday and the last 324 left standing will finish in the money. Among those who joined the action during late registration were 2008 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Dewey Tomko, two-time bracelet winner Tom Schneider, and poker author David Sklansky.
Among those chipping up early was 2008 WSOP Main Event November Niner and PokerStars pro Dennis Phillips, who bet out on a board of 7-10-2-J-7 and the table folded around. Phillips broke the 10,000-chip mark shortly thereafter, showing A-9 on a board of A-8-J-5-4 for top pair. His opponent held a pair of jacks and Phillips continued his march up the leaderboard. After his third place finish in 2008 in the Main Event, Phillips turned in a 45th place run last year. His career WSOP earnings approach $5 million.
Reigning WSOP Europe Main Event champion Barry Shulman was one of the early casualties of the Seniors’ Event and immediately headed to the $50/$100 Omaha High-Low cash tables at the Rio. Coverage found on WSOP.com candidly noted, “Looks like he wasn’t depending on cashing in today’s event to pay for groceries.” Shulman, who will be one of 27 players to take to the felts in the 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions next weekend, banked £801,000 for winning the WSOP Europe Main Event one year ago.
Michael Davis won last year’s Seniors’ Event for $437,000. One year prior, it was Dan Lacourse hoisting the bracelet for $368,000. Players in the hunt for this year’s title include ESPN poker analyst Lon McEachern, “The Simpsons” co-creator Sam Simon, “Minneapolis” Jim Meehan, and two-time bracelet winner Thor Hansen.
