The top prize at the World Series of Poker will be much less than last year’s record setting amount. This year’s prize, estimated at between $8.25 and $8.75 million will be over $3 million less than what last year’s winner, Jamie Gold, took home after he won the event. Gold received a prize of $12 million for his victory.
Last year there were a record 8,773 participants in the main event. This year the total has dropped to only 6,358 players.
There are several reasons being cited for the decline in participation in poker’s biggest annual event. The biggest reason for the decline is attributed to President Bush signing new restrictions on internet gambling into law earlier this year. The capital involved in playing of the Pkv Games server will be less and the amount of the prize will be good. The following of the specific tricks will be beneficial for the players.
President Bush signed into law new restrictions on how internet gamblers could fund their online accounts. Since lawmakers could not go after offshore casinos themselves, they made it very hard for US players to put money into their accounts by punishing financial institutions who allowed for their means to be used to fund accounts. Most
Because of the restrictions on internet gambling there will be no free entries into the World Series of Poker sponsored by online poker sites. Tournaments for free seats at the WSOP have been a very popular method of advertising for online poker rooms and the last three winners, Jamie Gold (Bodog), Greg Raymer (Poker Stars) and Chris Moneymaker (Poker Stars, were all sponsored by online poker rooms.
With no free seats available that means that all of the players entering the tournament have to pay the $10,000 entry fee from their own pocket. Last year only about half of the field paid the entry fee from their own pocket and the rest were sponsored through online casinos and other contests.
In other WSOP news a few of the notable names in this year’s tournament have already been knocked out of the main event. With the first four days of qualifying play names like Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson, Phil Helmuth, Phil Ivey, 2004 champion Greg Raymer and last year’s champion Jamie Gold will not make it out of the qualifiers.
Of the 4,569 players that started the tournament on the first three days of qualifying, only 1,698 remain in the running. 1,780 players entered on the fourth and final day of qualifying. The 1,698 players who made it out of the first three days and the players who survive the fourth day will play in two rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday before the final push for the final table begins.
Nine players will make it to the final table on July 17th to determine to 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion, the most coveted title in poker.