2008 WSOP Kudos and Gripes

Now that the World Series of Poker is officially over, I would like to comment on some of the good and bad that I saw at the World Series of Poker this year. I have been going to the WSOP since 2006 and this was the first year that I didn’t go as a player. As a result, I got to see a little more about the inner workings of the WSOP. At the same time, I was able to take in more of the series as I was not focusing on playing the events.

First, I think that Harrahs should be applauded at some of the changes made at this year’s WSOP. One of the big gripes at the WSOP for the first two years that I was there centered around satellites and how disorganized things seemed to be. In 2006 and 2007, the satellites were in the same room as the events and sometimes this created congestion in the areas around the cages. Also, satellites could not go on if an event was going on in the room. That was a hassle for those wanting to play satellites before a 5 pm event.

This year the satellites were in an entirely separate room dedicated specifically for satellites. First, that reduced on traffic and congestion in the Amazon Room. Next, from what I saw the satellites were a lot more organized than in years past. This is great for both players and Harrahs.

Next, Harrahs finally used some sense and used other indoor rooms for events to handle the overflow issues of years past. The Brazilia room was used a lot for Day 2 restarts and the evening NL non-bracelet tournaments. This was much better than using a tent as was done in 2007.

Also, the events kicked off on time almost every single day. There were very few days that we started late, and even then we are talking 10 to 15 minutes late and not an hour late as in past years.

The Media Tower in the Amazon room was a great idea. First, the media had their own place to hang out that was out of everyone’s way. Not only could you work, but you could also check out the floor to a degree.

Now on to some of the bad things at this year’s WSOP:

Harrahs needs to setup a 2nd final table area other than just sticking it on Green 15 or some random table. Several of the events had decent crowds watching and it would have been great to have a small section arranged for them. Maybe use one of the other rooms. Part of Brazilia could have been used for this purpose or maybe rent out a little more space. It would make things a lot simpler.

Unlike years past, this year each event played a specific number of levels on Day 1. In a lot of events, this works great, but there were some events that really should have been played down to the money in Day 1. The $2000 No Limit event could have been played down to the money instead of making 20 players come back the next day to go home empty handed. Also, Day 2 decisions to play to the final table or come back the next day needed to be more consistent. One event we played to the final table and was there till 7 a.m. Another event we came back the next day with 2 tables left and went home at 3 a.m. Some floor staffers would give the players an option and they would vote to play or come back. I liked this option, but it was not used consistently. Granted, for some events, the final table was a televised event the next day, and those I can see forcing to stay. The ones that weren’t televised needed a little more consistency.

Certain floor staff need to learn to have a better attitude towards media. As a whole, the staff did a fantastic job in regards to working with the media. Others were frankly outright rude and hard to work with. I’m not saying this because we were told no about certain things. I am talking more about the attitude given to us. With that said, there are a lot of floor staffers that were absolutely fantastic and would help you out any way they could.

My next gripe is one that has been televised a lot and that is the inconsistency of enforcing rules with certain players. I was at the Main Event and for the most part if anyone even as much as raised their voice or yelled, the floor staff was over giving them warnings. However, in the cases of players like Phil Hellmuth and Scotty Nguyen, they not only did not discipline them properly, but when they did they backed off as in the case of Hellmuth getting his penalty reversed. Enforce the rules consistently and for everyone or don’t enforce them at all. I don’t care who the player is. At the table, each player has put up their buy-in in one fashion on another and deserves to have the rules enforced the same for each player. I expect this will be addressed by Harrahs as they were quick to act on the Hevad Khan issue.

Overall the World Series of Poker went off without a hitch this year. This was a vast improvement over 2007. Harrahs clearly went out of their way to improve the tournament and it showed. While I have pointed out some areas of improvement, these pale in comparison to those of year’s past and I think Harrahs should be applauded for their commitment to improve the event. I look forward to attending the 2008 World Series of Poker and look forward to getting a chance to play a couple of events.

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