POKER ROOM REVIEW NEWSWIRE

2008 WSOP Final Table to be Delayed

What began circulating as a rumor in early April has now been confirmed: the Final Table of the WSOP will be delayed for almost 4 months. The last nine players of the $10,000 World Championship of No-Limit Texas Hold’em, known as the Main Event, will compete on November 9-10 instead of the originally scheduled date of July 16.

What Harrah’s is calling an enhancement, most players are calling a potentially disastrous blunder and wondering such things as why--if the poker players put up all the cash--Harrah’s should be entitled to the substantial percentage of interest generated on the millions of dollars in delayed Final Table payouts? What happens if one or more of the final 9 players is imprisoned or hospitalized or dies during the waiting period? With millions of dollars at stake, who is going to guarantee the personal safety of the 9 players and their families and keep them safe from criminal attempts to influence their play or other kinds of extortion schemes? Further, the waiting period provides a tempting opportunity for players to collude, who can guarantee this will not occur? Additionally, some feel it robs the WSOP of any kind of spontaneity and over-commercializes the entire affair.