The 2011 World Series of Poker has thus far been a success. Six of nine repeat events have seen an increase from 2010 attendance, and even more telling, the side action is phenomenal. Attendance at the Rio in Las Vegas has, unsurprisingly, exploded this week. The largest side action tournament has been the 2pm Deep Stack Tournament, which has been running 12 to 14 hours each day. The tournament has attracted fields as large as 599.
WSOP tournament director Jack Effel said, “A $235 tournament with 15,000 chips, its about a 12-hour tournament. We’ve been getting over 500 players the last few days, and first place has been paying out over $25,000. That’s huge. For $235, you can literally win $25,000 which would buy you into a handful of bracelet events. If you were to win any of those, that could change your life forever.”
As usual, some of the hottest WSOP side action is found at the satellite games. This year, since no online satellites were available in America, the live action satellites have been in high demand. At the Rio, the $550 satellites give players the chance to win a $10,000 buy-in to any WSOP bracelet event, a relative bargain buy-in for a poker player. For the Omaha Hi-Lo event, 158 players competed in a mega satellite the night before, and 7 players were awarded seats and a chance at a bracelet. The satellites are part of a push to increase the competition numbers at championship events. Another effort has been a new rule, allowing players to re-enter a championship tournament if they are busted in the first two hours.
“As we’ve done every year,” said Effel, “We try to offer something for every player at every level. We try to have a nice variety.” True to form, the 2011 WSOP is serving up exactly that: just the right variety. Effel believes that the WSOP has it all, and he might be right: “There’s really no reason to go anywhere else. We have the tables, the dealers, the games, we have all the action, and everybody has come to Las Vegas for the greatest show on earth, the World Series of Poker. Why would you want to play anywhere else?”