The amount of live poker coverage on ESPN this year will be down. The network decided that the casual viewer was not as captivated with daily coverage of the WSOP as they had hoped. The format will return to the normal Tuesday night block.

The WSOP Main Event will be covered in the traditional manner. Two episodes, one hour each, will be broadcast each Tuesday, beginning August 14. This coverage will culminate with the final table, which will be broadcast near live, on October 30th.

The $1 Million Big One For One Drop will be aired near live on July 3 on ESPN and ESPN3. The event will also be recapped on July 31. This will officially kick off the beginning of the WSOP coverage.

On August 7, ESPN will air the WSOP National Championship. Then, starting on August 14, the Main Event coverage will begin. As in previous years, Norman Chad and Lon McEachern will do commentary and Kara Scott will be on hand to do reporting and player interviews.

Here is the official breakdown:

July 3 8:00PM/3:00PM The Big One For One Drop ESPN/ESPN3

July 31 8-10 P.M. The Big One For One Drop Recap ESPN
August 7 8-10 P.M. WSOP National Championship ESPN
August 14 8-10 P.M. WSOP Main Event ESPN
August 21 8-10 P.M. WSOP Main Event ESPN
August 28 8-10 P.M. WSOP Main Event ESPN
September 5 8-10 P.M. WSOP Main Event ESPN
September 11 8-10 P.M. WSOP Main Event ESPN
September 18 8-10 P.M. WSOP Main Event ESPN
September 25 8-10 P.M WSOP Main Event ESPN
October 2 9-11 P.M. WSOP Main Event ESPN
October 9 9-11 P.M. WSOP Main Event ESPN
October 16 9-11 P.M. WSOP Main Event ESPN
October 23 9-11 P.M. WSOP Main Event ESPN
October 30 9:00- WSOP Main Event (Almost Live) ESPN

The Highlights of the WSOP Conference Call

• Overall the WSOP is expected to be a much livelier event. Tournament organizers said that they have removed the controversial Hevad Kahn rule. This was instituted to prevent over exuberant celebration. However, the organizers feel that there needs to be a more lenient approach. Players will now be allowed to celebrate as long as it does not go completely out of bounds (throwing chairs, creating chaos in the area).

• Players will be required to announce their action. Talking is also going to be encouraged during hands as long as you are last to act. This looks to be part of the overall plan to increase the liveliness of the WSOP.

• The addition of WSOP Australia is seen as expanding the brand. The organizers do not think it will dilute or harm the image of the WSOP.

• The $1 Million One Drop charity event is likely going to be filled. There is expected to be 48 players for the event. There will be several satellites for the event, including a $25k Satellite.

• No Food Comp. This year there will be no food comp. Instead of receiving a food voucher, players will receive credit on their Caesars Total Reward cards. This is likely to hurt those players who buy into the $1,500 events, but will be an increase in value to those buying into the $10K events.

• Several New Events. There are going to be new events including an Ante Only, as well as a 4 handed No Limit event.

• Almost 100 tables will be added. This is an attempt to prevent players from leaving and heading over to the Bellagio, Aria, or Venetian looking for side game action.

• Men are still going to be allowed to enter the ladies only event.

• The Main Event final table will be moved to October 28. This is so it will not interfere with the Presidential election.

• All of the final tables will be live streamed online. David Tuchman has been chosen to do commentary.

• The Final table of the Main Event will be the only event shown live on ESPN. Last years ratings were lower, so the choice was to only air the most popular event.

• The 50K 8-Game final table will not air on ESPN. Because of this, the final table will remain 8-Game and will not switch to No Limit.

• There are no plans to honor Amarillo Slim, though something is likely to be done.

• Overall, organizers expect attendance to be up. There is already an increase in registration from last year.

Slim was poker's first superstar.

Slim is really the first real superstar of poker as he turned his 1972 Main Event win into a media tour going on several talk shows that included the Tonight Show. Also, Slim had a small role in the 1974 movie California Split and he also appeared on the popular game show “I’ve Got a Secret.”

For his career, Slim won 4 WSOP bracelets. In addition to his 72 championship, h e won the 1974 $1,000 NL Hold’em Event as well as the $5,000 PL Omaha Event in both 1985 and 1990. Slim was also associated with the Super Bowl of Poker and was the host of the event from 1980 to the last event held in 1991. During its heyday, the Super Bowl of Poker was second only to the WSOP.

In addition to his prowess at the poker table, Slim was known for his extravagant prop bets where he tried to find every advantage he could in order to win. This continue into his later life as he won $20,000 from Doyle Brunson in a scooter race at the 2010 WSOP when it was reported that Slim chose a brand of scooter he knew would be slowed down by Brunson’s larger size.

In later life, Slim faced some legal problems stemming from allegations of child molestation against his 12 year-old granddaughter. Slim eventually accepted a plea bargain of misdemeanor assault on February 10, 2004 and received 2 years probation. He was interviewed in 2009 by Nolan Dalla and Slim claimed that he was innocent but accepted the deal to spare his family from going through the court process.

Upon learning of his death, many in the poker world chose to focus on the more positive aspects of Slim’s career and his prop betting prowess. For his career, Slim “officially” has $587,568 in career winnings. Of course, before the late 90′s, most tournament records were not kept and there are stories that claim that Slim cut a deal with the final two participants at the 72 WSOP where he took the title and they kept the money. Slim’s final recorded WSOP cash was in 2007 when he finished 96th in the Seniors Event and his last final career final table was in 2009 when he finished 4th in a $500 event at the Deep Stack Extravaganza at the Venetian.

Amarillo Slim will be remember as poker’s first superstar. His antics at and away from the table were stuff of legends and the game lost something special when it lost one of the last of poker’s road gamblers.

WSOP Asia-Pacific Kicks Off in April 2013.

According to the terms of the deal, the WSOP has signed a mutli-year deal with Australia’s Crown Melbourne to host the event. The first even is scheduled for April 4-15 of 2013 and will host five WSOP gold bracelet event.

According to WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart, “Our goal is to establish the worldwide grand slam of poker and use our platform to elevate the game through a series of major championships.

With WSOP Las Vegas growing annually and WSOP Europe poised for long-term success after five years, the time is right to turn our attention to the dynamic poker scene in Asia and Australia. Given Crown’s success with the ‘Aussie Millions Poker Championship’, we couldn’t ask for a better partner than Crown to establish the Asia-Pacific’s definitive poker festival.”

Greg Hawkins, the CEO of Crown Melbourne talked about the new event and said that “This exciting partnership brings together two industry leaders, and two strong brands, to create a premier poker event in this region. Our agreement firmly aligns with our objective of attracting the very best local and international players, all vying for a coveted WSOP bracelet. We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved with the Aussie Millions and look forward to featuring WSOP Asia Pacific on our poker calendar in April 2013.”

The event will be shown on international television and will likely be broadcast on ESPN. The 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion, Joe Hachem, is excited for the event and stated that, “It’s thrilling to think the World Series of Poker is coming to Australian soil. I know first-hand what a life-changing moment winning the WSOP gold bracelet was and how it served as a catalyst for the growth of poker in Australia and Asia. It will be a dream come true to host a worldwide poker event such as this at Crown. I can’t wait.”

Now with the WSOP Asia-Pacific, there are now three WSOP series’ that award bracelet to event winners. With the recent addition, the WSOP now covers every major poker market in the world and players do not have to travel across the globe to Vegas in order to compete for a bracelet.

Annette Obrestad signs with Lock Poker.

According to Lock Poker CEO Jennifer Larson, “Annette is an exceptional person and player. She takes Lock to the next level. She is fierce in her passion, extraordinary in her talent and dedicated beyond.”

“Players like Annette are the eyes into the soul of the game. We intend to integrate her into all aspects of the company. Lock has taken the Poker world into a new Era where the player reigns. Partnering with our Pros is the only path to greatness!”

Of her deal with Lock Poker, Obrestad stated that “I’d heard amazing things about Lock Poker from all my friends and pros who play there, and I was thrilled when I got an offer from them. Being part of Lock is something I’m really excited about and it will be a great beginning of a new exciting relationship. Lock is the new generation of online poker where player experience drives the company with an incredible Pro team that I can hardly wait to work with.”

Obrestad became the youngest bracelet winner in WSOP history when she won the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event at the age of just 18 years old. At the same time, she became the first woman in WSOP history to take down a Main Event title. For her career, Obrestad has $3.73 Million in tournament winnings. Prior to her current deal with Lock Poker, she was a sponsored online pro with Full Tilt Poker. That deal became null and void after the company was forced to shut down in wake of the Black Friday indictments last April.

Think about it. When you think of major poker events, you think of the WSOP, the WSOP, and the European Poker Tour. While there are indeed others, these are the ones that the majority of players go out of their way to play and try to dominate.

In regards to online poker events, PokerStars has nearly cornered the market on the industry now. If they purchase Full Tilt and reopen the site, they will have every major event in online poker with the exception of those on PartyPoker. With their massive player database they will easily continue to have the largest poker tournaments online.

With that said, one has to be concerned that PokerStars is becoming too big for their own good. The reason that live poker tournaments have become so popular is that there is strong competition between the major tournament organizers. PokerStars will have really only PartyPoker competing with them.

When online poker is legalized in the United States, Partypoker will benefit greatly from the traffic boost and PokerStars will face a bit more competition, but by and large they will still have the majority of online traffic. With that said, one has to wonder if players will benefit as since one site will have the majority of traffic, they could nearly dictate their own terms.

Hopefully some of the smaller sites will either find a way to be competitive or maybe even merge together in a way to give them a competitive edge over their current state. Monopolies and companies having a major portion of a market can cause problems for that market. How things unfold in the saga of PokerStars purchasing Full Tilt remains to be seen.

Right now, this is the only physical location for the Poker Hall of Fame (unoffical of course.)

Caesars Palace

Caesars Palace in Las Vegas is the premier property for Caesars Entertainment. While the World Series of Poker is held at the Rio every year, many believe that at some point the venue will be moved here. As such, it would make sense to house the Hall of Fame where the WSOP would be held annually.

Las Vegas Strip

While Caesars Palace is on the Las Vegas Strip, another suggestion would be to locate the Hall of Fame somewhere near the heart of the strip as maybe part of another casino or maybe build a new structure.

While this would definitely get more “tourist eyeballs” than putting it in Caesars or somewhere else, it would be the most expensive and the most risky as it would not have the backing of a poker event.

Binions

Another option for housing the Poker Hall of Fame would be Binions in downtown Las Vegas. When it was run as Binion’s Horseshoe, the casino was the home of the World Series of Poker.

Binions actually has a wall for the Poker Hall of Fame in their poker room, but it is not an officially sanctioned wall.

While Binions is not a Caesars property, it would be a nice gesture considering that a lot of poker’s past centered around Binions and it would definitely be a tourist attraction. It would also bring a lot of nostalgia to the event for those attending and getting inducted.

Whether or not the WSOP actually chooses to have a physical home for the WSOP remains to be seen. They currently seem content on having their web nomination, panel vote, and then ceremony during the final table of the WSOP Main Event. Chances are that unless some players or even Hall of Famers make a push for a physical home, it may never happen.

Chinese Poker would be an interesting game to readd to the WSOP mix.

Chinese Poker Event

Years ago there was a Chinese Poker event on the schedule and while it wasn’t the most popular event, it was certainly a unique one. Considering how that many pros play the game on the side and how that some games have benefited from being introduced at the WSOP, Chinese Poker could make a comeback through the WSOP.

I expect that if the event was held that about 60 to 70 players would take part the first year, maybe more if the buy-in was $3,000 or less.

Mixed Doubles Bracelet Event

Considering how that poker is trying to get more women involved in poker, it would make sense to bring back the mixed doubles bracelet event. The non-bracelet event this year will likely be a hit and bring back the official version of it seems in the cards so to speak.

One of Doyle Brunson’s 10 bracelets is in this event and this would be a great chance to see great tag team duos like Patrik Antonius and Eric Schoenberg, Chad Brown and Vanessa Rousso, and more.

Five Card Draw

Five Card Draw has been making a bit of a comeback online and now that Pot-Limit versions of the game are highly popular, maybe it is time to try to hold a non-lowball Draw poker event at the WSOP.

It has been decades since we have seen a Draw event and a modernized version of the game could reignite the game like HORSE and Eight Game have reignited mixed games across the country and around the world.

Hopefully the WSOP will at some point reexamine some of the above games and consider offering them on at least a one-time trial basis to gauge popularity. Chances are that they will prove popular enough to add them back to the annual rotation of events.

Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson named in class action lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed by Steve Segal, Todd Terry, Nick Hammer, and Robin Hougdahl, the same four that filed a lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker last year alleging RICO statute violations. The suit alleges that the two “exercised unlawful domain and control” over funds from players at Full Tilt Poker.

According to plaintiffs, Lederer and Ferguson played a significant roll in what resulted in players at Full Tilt Poker being unable to access $150 Million in player funds. Ultimately, it was alleged by the US DOJ that the site was a Ponzi scheme, a point that the lawsuit focuses on. The suit also discusses the distributions of $127 Million between Lederer and Ferguson. Ferguson received $85 Million and Lederer $42 Million. They claim that those distributions, as well as other payments to owners, were funded at least in part by funds from player accounts.

The four are asking for the return of player funds and also punitive damages. Whether or not this lawsuit will ever reach trial is hard to say considering that the company is in the process of being sold. Per the terms of the sale, US players would be repaid by the DOJ and other players by GBT. Should that happen, it is hard to see a jury awarding damages against Lederer and Ferguson.

Ferguson was the primary software programmer for Full Tilt Poker and Lederer was the company’s founder and head for many years. Both have been laying low in the poker community since April 15th of last year when Full Tilt was indicted as part of Black Friday.

Gus Hansen and Patrik Antonius (right) are among the 30 players confirmed for the Big One for One Drop.

As the field stands currently, only 12 of the 30 player field is classified as a “professional poker player.” The following pro players are confirmed for the event:

Erik Seidel
Justin Smith
Patrik Antonius
Gus Hansen
Daniel Negreanu
Johnny Chan
Tom Dwan
Tony Guoga
Jonathan Duhamel
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier
Dan Shak
Justin Smith

Among the other players in the field are businessmen Guy Laliberte, Phil Ruffin, Andy Beal, Paul Newey, Richard Yong, and former poker pro now businessman Bobby Baldwin.

The event will take place from July 1st through 3rd at the Rio in Las Vegas and $111,111 of the buy-in will go to One Drop, an organization that provides clean drinking water to third world countries.

At present, $3.33 Million has been reserved for One Drop and some players have promised to donate a portion of their winnings to the charity. If the field reaches 48, over $5.3 Million would be raised for the charity before additional player donations.

There are still 18 spot available for this event. Should the field reach 48, the winner may end up becoming the new all-time money leader in poker. In addition, the winner will receive the first ever Platinum WSOP bracelet.

Several casinos will hold super satellites that will give players a seat into the $25,300 satellite for this event on June 30th at the Rio. The $25,300 satellite will award seats into the Big One for One Drop based on the number of players entered. At present, only one seat is expected to be awarded in the satellite.

For more information on this event and satellites for the event, check out wsop.com.