In the run-up to the 2012 World Series of Poker, Tournament Director Jack Effel and Executive Director Ty Stewart held a conference with press to answer questions about the upcoming poker festival. PokerStrategy.com were there to get some information on the 2012 WSOP.
WSOP 2012: New Games, More Space
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| WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel |
PokerStrategy.com: What are some of the new innovations for the 2012 World Series of Poker?
Jack Effel: We hope 2012 will be a record-breaking year in terms of player participation. Therefore, we changed several things to meet the requirements of the players.
First of all, we will play in the Brazilian room this year, which is located between the usual Amazon room and the Pavilion. We can house an additional 92 tables for Bracelet events there - that is a total of 470 tables for the WSOP.
For the first time, we have an ante-only event. For those who have never heard of them, it works like this: only antes will be in the pot preflop and the player left from the button can open the pot for any amount; from the minimum chip denomination up to all-in. After the flop, it plays exactly the same as regular Texas Hold'em.
We also have a $2,500 4-max event. Shorthanded poker has definitely increased in popularity. I am very excited about the new $5,000 mix-max tournament, which is a totally new format.
It will be played full ring on Day 1, 6-max on Day 2 and when we are down to 32 players, we will re-seat the field and play heads-up down to a winner.
For the Players: Make Some Noise!
PokerStrategy.com: Where do these innovations come from? Or rather, where do you get the ideas to make these changes and additions to the schedule?
Jack Effel: The players are our best sounding board. They are playing the events and they are experimenting with different formats. Online poker has also sprouted different formats that have migrated to live poker in recent years.
Basically, listening to what others do and what players want is what we need to do. But the events that we are adding have to meet certain criteria - we have to make sure that they conform to that specific discipline of poker and that they are prestigious enough to be a bracelet event.
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| Players like Hevad Khan can celebrate again - if they don't go too crazy. |
PokerStrategy.com: A few years ago you put a rule in place that prevented players from excessively celebrating their success like grabbing chairs, screaming out loud etc. - does this rule still apply?
Jack Effel: We feel that we were a little extreme with what happened around Hevad Khan. We think it should be OK to celebrate a little bit and so we have rewritten the rule. We want to encourage the players to enjoy their success as long as they don't go crazy and disrupt the tournament or other players.
PokerStrategy.com: Did you change any other rules?
Jack Effel: We talked to a lot of players over the last twelve months and they told us that poker has become quiet at the table. They cannot outmanoeuvre players with verbal strategies any more without getting penalties.
So, we talked about that a lot and we revised that rule. A Poker Room is not a church. Players can now say anything they want about the context of their hand, as long as they:
a) don't expose their hand
b) nobody in the hand has a decision to make.
We believe it will also be great for the viewers that follow the live stream at home. It's taking poker back to its fundamentals.
PokerStrategy.com: Why was the decision made to make the November Nine the "October Nine"?
Ty Stewart: We would be head-to-head in November with the presidential election in the USA and that is not in the best interest of anybody. Major league baseball also made some changes to their schedule that we had to react to.
WSOP In A Land Down Under
PokerStrategy.com: Tell us a little bit about the WSOP APAC (Asia-Pacific). Why does the WSOP want to expand to Australia?
Ty Stewart: First of all, the Crown Casino in Melbourne has proven to be one of the best tournament operators in the world, if not the best. It's a beautiful facility and we want to expose the World Series of Poker to that region.
I think we're going to have a big television footprint over there as well. We would like to establish the Grand Slam; the major championships of poker. That is a long-term goal and it doesn't happen overnight.
When we take this thing on the road, we're going to do it with the expectation of creating a bigger poker tournament series than anybody else could.
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| Joe Hachem sparked an Australian poker boom that will now see the WSOP head there. |
PokerStrategy.com: Will this step initiate the end of the Aussie Millions?
Ty Stewart: The Aussie Millions will definitely be happening. There will be a wide cooperation in terms of running satellites to encourage players to come to WSOP APAC.
PokerStrategy.com: Have you ever been afraid of weakening the brand WSOP by creating more events and more bracelets?
Ty Stewart: Absolutely not. We are cautious about the expansion. We have to have several parameters in place: First class venues, partners that are committed to have great fields, excellent treatment of players and television coverage that is of global nature. Everybody wants to make sure that the WSOP remains credible.
This interview was conducted by Tobias Block.
