By all accounts, the U.S. Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) has seemingly failed to keep online gambling out of the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
The WSOP Main Event, which ended in the early hours of July 18, marked the end of a record-setting month-and-a-half at the Rio Hotel and Casino, where the WSOP saw new highs for both total participants (54,288) and total prize money ($159,796,954).
Despite these records, however, the Main Event saw only 6,358 players fork over the $10,000 buy-in, resulting in a prize pool of $59,784,954, of which $8.25 million went to winner Jerry Yang. Last year's WSOP took in 8,773 entrants at the 2006 Main Event, which featured a pool of $82.5 million that was capped by $12 million for the winner, Jamie Gold, who represented Bodog.
It has been speculated that this year's drop in participation can be at least partially attributed to last October's enactment of the UIGEA. In years past, a number of Main Event players have earned their seats in the tournament after qualifying through online satellite tournaments sponsored by major poker Web sites.
But the passage of the UIGEA, which effectively illegalized online gambling within the United States, forced the vast majority of these sites to abandon the U.S. marketplace.
As a result, the WSOP decided to stop accepting third-party registrations from sites that continued to take U.S. play.
So, companies like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, which continue to accept bets from U.S. players, qualified players for the WSOP by depositing customers' winnings (usually between $10,000 and $12,000) into their accounts and leaving it up to them to register for the Main Event.
And despite literally handing their customers thousands of dollars to spend as they saw fit, PokerStars and Full Tilt were still well represented this year.
PokerStars alone sent 1,564 qualifiers to the Main Event, including final table finishers Tuan Lam, Raymond Rahme and Hevad "Rain" Kahn. Several players representing competitor Full Tilt, which sent 339 qualifiers to the event, made it through to the final table, including Yang, eighth-place finisher Lee Watkinson, and four other players.
The WSOP is not terribly concerned with the total turnout. Tournament commissioner Jeffrey Pollack told USA Today that he is not concentrating on how the U.S. online gambling ban affected the tournament.
"We're not focused on the number in the main event year to year," Pollack said. "We're focused on the quality of the tournament. So, [on that count, I think] this was the best World Series of Poker ever. The bottom line is … we'll be around for another 38 years, no matter how many people attend each year."
Poker pro and television poker analyst Phil Gordon said he is impressed with the numbers, especially considering what happened in Congress last year.
"For the championship event to get (6,358) players in the current regulatory climate that the government imposed in October is an amazing feat," Gordon said.
Other companies represented at the Main Event included Mansion Poker, Full Contact Poker, 888, Century Poker, Ladbrokes and Parbet, none of which accepts U.S. play.