Online poker made its presence felt once again at this year's World Series of Poker (WSOP), the game's largest, most famous event. Prize money, across all WSOP events, totaled $154 million, with $82.5 million up for grabs in the Main Event.
The seven-week tournament concluded Aug. 10, culminating in the crowning of former Hollywood agent Jamie Gold as the champion of the No Limit Texas Hold'em Main Event. Gold raked in $12 million, which, according to PokerWire.com, makes the prize the largest doled out in television history. The first through 12th place finishers brought home over $1 million each, marking yet another watershed in the tournament's 37-year history.
Participation numbers for the Main Event in 2006 surged to a record 8,773, shattering last year's attendance record (5,619) by a margin of 3,154--a 56 percent increase. The estimated percentage of players qualifying online has steadily increased in recent years. While no official stats on qualifying tournaments are recorded, WSOP officials estimated that 40 percent of the 2004 player pool was comprised of players who qualified online, with the estimate rising to nearly 50 percent in 2005. After repeated attempts to contact WSOP execs, IGN was not able to obtain estimates for this year's event, but based on the 2004 and 2005 numbers, it is conceivable that the contingency of online qualifiers could have eclipsed the 5,000 mark in '06.
Of the online casinos, it appears that PokerStars.com once again (for the third consecutive year) supplied the largest volume of players. Its 1,623 qualifiers represented roughly 18 percent of the player pool. PokerStars qualifiers collectively netted $21 million over 46 events. Three PokerStars players reached the final table of the Main Event, placing seventh, eighth and ninth, with their combined winnings totaling $5.9 million.
PokerStars sent 1,116 players to the Main Event in 2005; 104 finished in the money, and two reached the final table. They collectively earned $7.37 million. This year marked significant growth, as PokerStars player volume increased by 45 percent, collective winnings by 18 percent.
It was Bodog.com, however, that made online gambling's biggest splash at the Main Event. The Costa Rica-based company sent far fewer players than PokerStars--around 400--but among them was Gold, the Main Event winner. But unlike previous champions sent by online operators, Gold did not qualify online; rather he was handpicked by BoDog.
"Jamie came to our attention when we were assembling our celebrity team," Susan Mainzer, the company's media relations manager, explained. "We were impressed by his tournament record and that he'd been coached by Johnny Chan. So, we decided to stake him."
Pacific Poker also made its presence felt, as two of its players reached the final table: Paul Wasicka (second place) and Rhett Butler (fifth). The two qualifiers amassed a combined $9.3 million.
Paradise Poker, meanwhile, sent 230 players, with its highest finisher placing 97th.
FullTiltPoker (FTP) sent 423 online qualifiers this year and was represented at the final table, with team member Allen Cunningham placing fourth, earning $3.6 million. Notables Phil Ivey and Andy Bloch notched second- and third-place finishes (respectively) in the WSOP's HORSE tournament, earning a combined $1.6 million.
Poker's exponential growth, spurred by the Internet and television, prompted WSOP executives to bring out the bells and whistles in 2006. For the first time, the tournament's producers teamed up with partners ESPN and Pay-Per-View to offer live coverage of final-table play at the Main Event.
Publishing company Bluff Media, meanwhile, offered live radio coverage from the event and publisher Card Player Media joined the fray with live, online hand-by-hand reporting from the tournament floor.
Jeffrey Pollack, commissioner of the WSOP and VP of sports and entertainment marketing for Harrah's, suggested that the dynamism and market presence of the WSOP will only proliferate.
"This tournament will always be a work in progress," Pollack said. "Right now, poker kind of smells like NASCAR did six or seven years ago before they made changes and moved from a regional phenomenon to a national, and now global, phenomenon.”
Pollack and his marketing staff are reportedly discussing the incorporation of additional media outlets, promoting pay-per-view year-round, and spreading the duration of Main Event final-table play over a two-day period.
Pollack also plans to consult with the recently created Players Advisory Council--comprised of six poker pros who meet monthly with company executives--in a collaborative effort to streamline game play and revamp the existent tournament format. After this year's World Series, players are already petitioning for the addition of $500,000 and $1 million chips.
"The chips were getting so ridiculous and so cumbersome they should add (the new chip denominations)," Gold said.
Other suggestions range from raising entry fees to curb the explosive growth to exchanging No Limit Hold'em events with other poker games, namely stud high-low and Omaha high-low.
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