Poker News

WSOP is a classic in the making

2006-10-11 18:30:00

A leading poker writer has called the World Series of Poker (WSOP) a potentially classic event.

John G. Brokopp, writing in the Casino City Times, believes that the support of Harrah's Entertainment, which bought the rights to the event some years ago, had been instrumental in to propelling the series in to the forefront of the poker world.

This year's Las Vegas event saw some 48,364 players compete in 45 events, a rise in numbers of some 50 per cent.

The main event saw spectacular growth too, with players and prize money both rising by over a third on 2005 levels.

Gary Thompson, WSOP's director of communications and operations, believes that the structure of the tournaments is the key to their success.

"Our players have told us that they really like the fact that we play two hours per level, that blind structures increase very slowly, particularly for the main event, and it gives players a chance to play, which is our goal," he told the publication.

This year's main event was won by Californian television producer, Jamie Gold.