World Series of Poker 2007

Author: Simon Dexter

Las Vegas, self-styled ‘entertainment capital of the world’, boasts so much more than gaudy wedding chapels, indoor skydiving and an Elvis museum.
Many of the city’s grandest hotels, such as the Bellagio, Riviera, Aladdin, Venetian and Wynn Resort rank among the world’s finest, lavish reflections of their respective owner’s vision for a desert resort which last year attracted an astonishing 39 million visitors. Not all come for an exclusive diet of glamour and glitter either, for visitors do not have to travel too far to discover the natural beauty of magnificent lakes, spectacular desert landscapes and the awesome Grand Canyon.

Yet it is to the city of Las Vegas that the world’s biggest and brightest stars of stage, screen and poker gravitate initially, although none of this would have happened had it not been for an obscure Nevada state law which legalised gambling in 1932.

Fourteen years later, perhaps the city’s most significant development was unveiled when Benjamin “Bugsy” Seigel, a well-known mobster, opened the Flamingo Hotel. Gradually, Las Vegas’s Wild West feel was replaced by a style more akin to Miami, one that was to become the hallmark of the world-famous Strip. Since then, hotels have become bigger, grander, more sumptuous and the Strip has become a tourist attraction in its own right. Where else would you find an Egyptian sphinx, a Polynesian paradise and a medieval castle on the same block?

If New York is the city that never sleeps, Paris the city for lovers and Dublin the city to enjoy the craic, Las Vegas is where people go to be entertained and this year, Littlewoods Poker, the most trusted name in gaming, is giving you the chance to experience Vegas in the round….

In previous years, had your poker-playing prowess resulted in you winning one of our several World Series of Poker satellites, we would have bought your $10,000 seat to the main event and naturally enough, paid for an all-expenses trip to the planet’s biggest poker event. But we felt that if you’re good enough to win one of these coveted seats, we should also give you some tantalising options, which means we’ve decided to give our WSOP satellite winners a choice.

This year, instead of Littlewoods Poker handing you a ticket worth $10,000 for the main event, we’ll give you the ten grand in cash instead – oh, and still take care of all of your travel and hotel expenses too.

Why the change? Well, the 38th WSOP will take place over nearly seven weeks, from 1st June to 17th July. There are 55 bracelet events (there were 46 in 2006) with buy-ins of up to $50,000, although a number start as low as $1,000; last year’s prize pool of $171 million is expected to be comfortably exceeded.

New to the 2007 WSOP calendar are a $2,500 HORSE event, a clutch of $1,500 buy-in events and the Heads Up No Limit Hold’em world championship which has a $5,000 buy-in. In previous years, a considerable number of our poker winners would have fancied playing in a few of these tournaments at the world series, so this year, with ten large in the back pocket, we believe our winners should choose where and what events they want to play in.

Alternatively, how about heading out along the Strip and happening upon some action there?

There is certainly plenty of it. You may want to start at Caesar’s Palace where the casino’s 63 poker tables are never less than busy and, during the WSOP, buzzing with serious action. The Bellagio has 40 tables, the Wynn Resort 27 and the MGM Grand a further 23. All offer a variety of potentially profitable options for our WSOP winners who, armed with ten grand, may fancy their chances of winning big here before heading back to Harrah’s with even more cash and taking part in any one of the world series’ 55 events.

The point is, we believe we should hand that choice to our winners, not make it for them.

Furthermore, as there is so much to do in Vegas, why not enjoy your time there by sampling what else the city and its immediate surrounds has to offer? Making your own event selection allows you to do this.

Consider, for example, how you might spend a day on The Strip, starting with a leisurely breakfast at the Mandalay Bay hotel where you can stare at the specimens in the Shark Reef, then head north to the lion habitat at MGM Grand. Fed up with wildlife? A short way up the boulevard you can catch the Auto Collection at the Imperial Palace, a venue from which devotees of the internal combustion engine may have to be forcibly removed.

Having relaxed, you might be in the mood for some poker, so how about crossing the road to Caesars Palace where tournaments take place every day at noon and at 7pm? These events tend to be $120 buy-in with a $100 rebuy No-limit Hold’em, although there are exceptions, on Monday and Tuesday, when the noon event is an $80 buy-in with one $50 rebuy. At the weekend, the Friday and Saturday early evening tournaments are $530 buy-in No-limit Hold’em freeze-out with no rebuy.

Caesar’s tournament structure was designed to attract the amateur and poker pro alike because with larger starting chip counts and longer sessions, poker becomes more a game of skill and less a lucky shootout.

If you’ve never been to Venice, then the Venetian hotel, next door to Harrah’s, is the next best thing. It boasts an 11,000 square foot poker room, dripping with solid wood and leather fittings and 39 poker tables. Every day at noon and every night at eight, the Venetian hosts a poker tournament; these range from a $110 buy-in with $50 rebuy to $500 + $50 buy-in at weekends. A word of warning here: players must be registered in the poker room at least two hours before a tournament starts, although if you’re smart, you’ll probably get ‘comped’ for dinner. The Venetian also has one of the classiest high stakes areas in town with seven further poker tables and complementary butler service. Win big here and you may stay in town an extra few weeks.

Of course, Vegas isn’t all about The Strip, so you may also consider spending at least one night downtown at Glitter Gulch where you can take the 40 second ride up the Stratosphere Tower or, as you’re in gaming mood, why not try your hand on the world’s largest slot machine at the Four Queens before heading off to the Fremont Street Experience? That may sound like an obscure 1960s Californian rock band , but among the spectacular nightly (and free) sound and light shows are a number of special events, including the Las Vegas Jazz Festival, which happens to be on during the WSOP…

You couldn’t possibly come this far and not visit the Grand Canyon, a 277-mile long spectacular display of nature at its most awesome. The best way to travel from Vegas is by plane or helicopter and there are numerous operators who offer tours that encompass the equally breathtaking Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, an incredible feat of engineering, before heading off to the canyon. Most helicopter flights include a landing on the canyon’s floor where a champagne lunch (why not?) is included in the price. Small plane tours generally involve a flight from Vegas to the Grand Canyon, followed by either a train or coach tour, which invariably includes lunch. You could always drive – but it’s five hours from Vegas, which means you may miss your nightly poker fix.

Ah, poker. That’s where we came in. There is so much of it to play and so many side tournaments and other WSOP events to contest during the early summer that you may just fancy enjoying some R&R and picking your events to guarantee a fantastic experience and a profit when you return home.

The choice is yours. First, though, you’ve got to win that trip to Vegas…

Tags: , British Poker Open, competition, internet poker, professional poker, world series of poker 2007, WSOP

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 28th, 2007 at 10:42 am and is filed under Poker Tournaments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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