In the build-up to the WSOP, Barry Carter asks why winning a World Series of Poker title is much more coveted than any other achievement in poker?
At the end of this month, thousands of poker players will descend on the Mecca of poker for seven weeks of non-stop action. To an outsider, the biggest talking point would surely be the millions of dollars that will be won and lost in that time, but for many in the poker community, the greater stories will be around the little straps of gold being awarded to just a fraction of the field.
Why are WSOP bracelets so intoxicating to poker players? Every year there will be some players who leave Vegas with huge profits, still deflated by the fact that they did not join the elite group known as the WSOP bracelet-winner. In a game where money is the way of keeping score, why do we care so much about jewellery most of us would normally never be seen dead in?
Bracelet fever
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| Bracelets command respect |
Probably the oddest thing about the quest for WSOP gold is that it genuinely does transcend profit for a lot of players. A great number of players will happily buy-in to every single event, even in disciplines they have never played, in order to win a bracelet. In many cases, the prizes on offer for a smaller bracelet won't even come close to the combined buy-ins leading up to that win, yet so many players are happy to go home poorer if it means securing a strap.
For most players, the most coveted of all the poker titles is the WSOP bracelet, even though the prize money is usually a fraction of most EPT & WPT titles. You can probably pull in about $250-$350k for the average WSOP bracelet win, but you are looking at closer to a million for an EPT main event, or a US-based WPT event.
It might seem like the answer to this is exclusivity: the WSOP only happens once a year (and the WSOPE is only seven events) so it makes sense that bracelets seem more unobtainable, but that is not the case. There will be sixty bracelet events in Vegas this year and seven at the WSOPE. Compare that to just 13 EPT events (and even less next year) and 22 WPT events in the current seasons, and there are nearly double the amount of bracelet events than the combined main events from the two other majors.
Many people argue that the massive increase in number of bracelets since the poker boom (there were just 36 in 2003) and the fact that the vast majority of them are in No Limit Hold'em has devalued the bracelet. I don't actually buy this argument, because no matter how much derision this increase seems to attract, the simple fact is that the frenzy for WSOP titles gets stronger every year, so the bracelet is more valuable than ever.
Buying bracelets?
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| Hellmuth is shy about the number of bracelets he's won |
In fact, the desire for bracelets is so strong that it could be argued that a number of efforts for the TV pros to "buy a bracelet" have been introduced. Rebuy events were always viewed as an attempt for big names to use the weight of their bankroll to guarantee a bracelet (hence their removal from the WSOP schedule), as is the inclusion of games that barely get played in tournaments any other time of the year, like 2-7 Triple Draw.
More significantly, the introduction of super high roller events like the $50,000 Players' Championship and the $1,000,000 One Drop event have all but guaranteed the poker elite will crown one of their own a bracelet winner. The latter example looks quite absurd on paper - there is actually going to be a bracelet event with a buy-in one thousand times bigger than the lowest buy-in event.
Another example of how much bracelets mean to the biggest names is the recent popularity of bracelet bets. A few years ago players like Eli Elezra, Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey revitalised their own interest in $1k events (a buy-in which is often less than a big blind for them) by wagering huge sums of money on themselves to win bracelets. Now everybody seems to be doing it, and bracelets can be big money for all, even if the first prize itself doesn't get them excited.
The Bracelet Club
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| WSOP titles are worth more than the prize money for some |
Here's a conversation I have had a few times recently: which is more desirable, making the November Nine with the short stack, or winning a smaller WSOP bracelet? I was quite surprised to hear a lot of people preferring the November Nine. Now obviously, ninth place in the Main Event is still a bigger prize than most of the first prizes in smaller events, but judging from the reaction I get from the pros I have asked, it is much more than that.
The reason they gave is that they prefer it because of the exposure and sponsorship opportunities that come with making the November Nine. I think this actually provides a great insight into why bracelets are much more coveted than any other title - because they open doors.
The WSOP is rich in poker history, and its brand is the most recognisable one in poker. ESPN cover the WSOP and success in Vegas will be broadcast on the biggest televised poker show of the year. Finally, for whatever reason, bracelets have always been what the established pros put the most importance on, so with the bracelet comes instant respect.
Bracelets are important because, for whatever reason, we have collectively placed the most importance on them. As long as we still give them the respect they receive, they will still command media exposure and envy from those of us who don't have one. There is no logical reason why bracelets are more appealing that an EPT, a WPT, a huge score, or a sick graph. But, as long as we choose to believe in them, they will always be one of the most exciting things about poker.
by Barry Carter