Prize pool richest ever for Harrah's poker series - Business

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Jul. 10, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Prize pool richest ever for Harrah's poker series

By HOWARD STUTZ
REVIEW-JOURNAL

World Series of Poker

The 2008 World Series of Poker is officially the largest and richest in the tournament's 39 years.

Harrah's Entertainment, which owns the event, said Wednesday a record 58,720 entries -- an 8 percent increase from 2007 -- were taken for the 55-event, 47-day poker tournament at the Rio. The total prize pool was a record $180.7 million, a $20.8 million increase from a year ago.

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"We've accomplished what we set out to do, and we're not taking anything for granted," said Jeffrey Pollack, a Harrah's vice president who serves as commissioner of the World Series of Poker. "We're going to be even better in 2009."

The tournament field was helped by having eight different $10,000 buy-in events and eight different $1,500 buy-in events.

"Our goal was to provide something for every player, and we believe we accomplished that," Pollack said.

The tournament attracted players from 118 different countries, a 36 percent increase from a year ago. Players from every U.S. state and Canadian province won money during the tournament.

"This is a bright spot in what has been a challenged industry," Pollack said in reference to the Strip's declining gaming revenues. "We're glad this is a year where attendance and participation have been greater than ever."

The World Series of Poker does not track how many of the participants won their seat in an online poker tournament because Harrah's does not accept entry fees paid by third parties. A player must present his or her own entry to play in an event.

The final task is to complete this year's main event, the $10,000 buy-in No Limit Texas Hold'em World Championship, which drew 6,844 players -- the second-largest field in the tournament's history -- vying to divide a prize pool of more than $64.3 million. The winner will take home $9.12 million.

On Wednesday a second group of players who survived the opening round returned to the Rio.

Early in the afternoon, it was learned there would be a new World Series of Poker champion in 2008. Defending champion Jerry Yang was eliminated from competition. Yang, a Temecula, Calif., social worker, had been playing poker for only two years when he won $8.25 million in last year's main event.

According to the tournament's staff, Yang walked around the table and shook each player's hand. He received a round of applause when his elimination was announced to the crowd.

World Series of Poker officials planned to have the field down to between 1,800 and 2,000 players going into play today. Once the final table of nine players is established sometime late Monday or early Tuesday, play will be suspended for almost four months.

Players will return to the Rio on Nov. 9 and play down to the final two players, who will play head-to-head starting late Nov. 10.

The winner will be determined in the early morning hours of Nov. 11, and ESPN will broadcast the final table in a two-hour special that evening.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. Johnny wrote on July 10, 2008 02:47 PM: Jan Jones and the other idiots who manage over at Harrah's could screw up a wet dream. Holding the final table 4 months later? Ha! Ha! That is classic. Jack is right - dumbest thing I've ever heard of. Jack wrote on July 10, 2008 09:32 AM: 4 months to wait to see if you are going to win the WSOP? Dumbest thing I've ever seen. Way to go Harrah's! IH8Bluffers wrote on July 10, 2008 09:28 AM: Harrah's never ceases to amaze me with their stupidity. Which Harrah's exec made the dumb decision to hold the final table 4 months later? All gamblers want the fruits of their labor NOW, not later. You don't start a tournament and then finish it 4 months later. What if a final table participant gets killed, arrested, whatever? Do you then let the 10th guy that was knocked out play? This is no different than the NFL playing all the playoffs, then holding the Super Bowl at the beginning of the next season. Just absurd. LVCasinoInfo.com wrote on July 10, 2008 08:23 AM: Its good to see the WSOP rebound from last year numbers. I just hate the 4 month break for TV purposes. Its just ridiculous to fork out $10k to get in a tournament then have to wait that long for a winner. It is to be expected though... anyone who has ever dealt with the fine folks at Harrahs know that the almighty dollar is far more important than their customers. Huh? wrote on July 10, 2008 08:03 AM: Can you read? Those totals are for the ENTIRE World Series of Poker, 55 events which set the records. The main event's total prize pool is second most because they are cracking down on the ability for people to win entry through tournaments online. Which means the total participation is up for the World Series of Poker but if you look at the totals...they are down for the main event. theman wrote on July 10, 2008 07:46 AM: Let me see, the largest number of entries ($$) the most people from the most countries ($$) and more sponsors than last year ($$) yet it will have the second largest prize pool... Hmmm.... I guess Harrah's is needing to pay down that debt faster than planned??