The Main Event Preview

Contrary to the belief of many, the WSOP Main Event will not grow incessantly in size every single year. Last year's WSOP featured 8,773 entries while this year saw a sharp decrease to only 6,358. But before people start reading deeply into this as evidence of the "end of the poker boom", take a few minutes to put things in perspective. One of the main ways that players gain entry into the Main Event is through online satellites. While players were still capable of qualifying through these satellites, it is unquestionable that the bill against internet gambling influenced the size of the field. It is also important to realize that the number of WSOP Main Event entrants does not completely reflect the status of poker popularity. The 2007 WSOP (including the main event) actually set a new record as it attracted 54,288 total registrants. So even if the main event does not have 10,000 players this year, let us not read too deeply into its implications. After all, this is the 2nd biggest tournament field in the history of poker.
This year's tournament will have 4 day 1s: days 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d. Initially the plan was to play only 3 day 1s, but the addition of a slew of late entries led to the adding of one extra. There are 6 levels for day 1, with blinds starting at 50/100 and finishing at 400/800 with a 100 ante. All levels last 90 minutes. After day 1 is completed, there will be 2 day 2s, 2a and 2b. After that, the fields will combine into one large field and play down to the final table. The following blog entries will focus on giving the chip counts of the leaders after each day of the tournament.

-Benjamin Ryan