My How Things Have Changed at the WSOP

I walked into the Amazon Room at the Rio Hotel and Casino at 11:59am to play in the $1,500 buy-in Omaha/8 event at the 40th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). I’ve participated in 28 out of the 40 years that the WSOP has been in existence, and, as usual, I was filled with excitement at the prospect of winning another gold bracelet.

As play began, I found myself thinking about how much the WSOP has changed since the first time I played in 1980. The first thing that came to mind was how easy the registration process is now. I dropped by the Rio the day before the event to register and was thrilled to be in and out with my tournament receipt in hand in less than 10 minutes. There is a room dedicated for registration with clerks standing by to sign up players using an efficient computerized system. The days of writing and recording everyone’s name by hand like they did in 1980 are gone.

Next, I was happy to see the tournament start on time. Despite the fact that there was a record-setting 918 entrants (I didn’t know that many people even played Omaha/8) and it took a few minutes for speeches, Tournament Director Jack Effel still managed to declare “Shuffle Up and Deal!” at 12:06pm. In the old days, I remember many times asking at 1:00pm or later, “So what time does the Noon tournament begin?”

Other huge differences between the 1980 WSOP and the 2009 WSOP are the starting chip stacks and the structures. This year, all events start with triple chips, meaning, for example, that players get $4,500 in chips for a $1,500 buy-in. I can remember putting up $400 in my first event and getting $400 in chips to start. Today’s structures are extremely player-friendly. Each jump in blind levels is minimal. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many limits!

The number and type of events are obviously different this year than back in 1980. There were 13 events in 1980, including three Seven Card Stud events, a Limit Ace-to-Five Draw event, a Limit Draw High event, and a Mixed Doubles event (male and female team). There were no Omaha, Triple Draw, or Mixed games. This year, there are 57 bracelet events. I know the schedule is printed in a tiny font, but I don’t think I saw any Draw events on the 2009 menu.

There were 62 entrants in the first WSOP I ever entered. This year, Event #4 was capped at 6,000 and it sold out! Where does all of the money come from?

The prize payout structure is quite different today than it was in 1980. In the event I referred to above, I came in fifth out of 62 entrants. Back then, they only paid the top three spots, but I still quit my good job and moved to Las Vegas to become a professional poker player two weeks after the event. In the Main Event in 1980, they paid the top five finishers in the 73 person field. By the way, there was no such thing as the “November Nine” back then.

One item that was actually better in 1980 than it is today is the food. Despite the tremendous improvement in the 2009 WSOP food selections, there still is no comparison to the free, lavish player buffets spread during the WSOP many years ago. Those buffets were legendary; the shrimp were the biggest I’d ever seen, there were lots of exotic meat choices, and the desserts were plentiful and sinful! Of course, they only had to feed a few hundred people back then compared to a few thousand in these times. Don’t take this as a slam on the Rio, though; it still does a good job of feeding the players.

In addition to all of the restaurants at the Rio, they’ve set up temporary food stations that sell snack items, salads, Mexican food, Chinese food, a variety of sandwiches, hot dogs and hamburgers, sushi, fruit, pizza, and a few food groups I am probably forgetting.

The 2009 WSOP has the biggest satellite room I’ve ever seen. There was no such thing as a satellite when I started playing. You had to pony up all the money if you wanted to enter a tournament. Satellites started in 1983 and, today, more than half of the Main Event entrants win their buy-ins through satellites.

The biggest improvement to date is the 2009 no-abuse policy. Not only is it different from the 1980 policy, but it also is different from the 2008 policy. Tournament officials made several announcements that a players’ behavior code is going to be strictly enforced this year. Any violation given is going to be recorded in a logbook and penalties will escalate with repeat infractions. Kudos to WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack and Tournament Director Jack Effel for leading the charge to make our playing environment friendlier.

Yes, the WSOP has come a long way since 1980. For the frosting on the cake, they have a bracelet award ceremony every day during which the winner(s) from the prior day’s event(s) is brought to center stage and presented with the bracelet. The national anthem of the winner’s homeland is played during the ceremony. It actually brought tears of pride to my eyes to see how far the WSOP has come since I began playing 28 years ago. There is an incredible amount of media on-hand and everything is first class.

A full year of planning and preparation went into making the 2009 WSOP look easy. The systems are terrific, the staff is knowledgeable and friendly, the structures are great, and the experience is incredible. My hat is off to the WSOP. I’m looking forward to playing in many events this year. Now, if I could just figure out a way to win one.