ESPN Poker Blog

Posted by Andrew Feldman

The biggest question of the WSOP season will be answered in just over a week: How many players will participate in the main event?

Given the popularity of the WSOP's preliminary events, I can't imagine a decline from the 6,358 players who participated in the 2007 edition. Speaking of the 2007 edition, where is Jerry Yang?

Anyway …

From what I've been hearing and seeing, the Rio has been packed, but with no third party registration, it will be interesting to see which players who have won their seats online take the money instead of participating. Last year, PokerStars had half of their satellite winners opt out and pocket the $10,000. Given the economy these days, it wouldn't surprise me if that number increases a little bit. Even if that number increases, the number of satellite seats being won online has increased as well, which will result in more people having to make a tough decision.

I think that the main event field will increase in 2008, but how much is completely up in the air. I'd love to say back over 8,000 players, but I feel that 7,100 is a better estimate given the current poker climate.

"I feel that we'll be somewhere in between the numbers for each Yang and Jamie Gold (8,773)," ESPN.com poker columnist Bernard Lee mentioned. "Part of the reason is that although there has been a huge explosion in the other events, it's kind of the failure of our success. Because so many people play in these preliminary events, people aren't puitting their money in to a $10,000 event for a one shot deal.

"But now, people are willing to take the $10,000 that they were going to spend in one event and play four events."

I think it's important for the poker world to get an increase out of the main event. The industry is getting the boost it needs from the change in the main event format, but without the players to support it, everyone will wonder what direction the poker world heads over the next year.

ESPN360.com coverage

If you haven't had a chance to watch the 360 coverage of the WSOP, I highly recommend checking it out. As others have said, watching live poker without hole cards is like watching paint dry. However, the team that puts the production together understands what the poker fans want to see and have done a great job in transmitting the information. If you've missed any events, you can still go back to ESPN360.com and watch the entire events on demand.

Tonight's episode features nine players who have never won a bracelet. One of their lives will change forever tonight. The chip leader is Mats Gavatin and he is trailed by Nick Binger, brother of main event final tablist Michael Binger.

Fantasy

There hasn't been a fantasy poker update in a while, but thats pretty much because my team is in the doghouse once again. I have zero bracelet wins and only one second place finish, and I am tired of watching Mark Seif's team absolutely dominate.

Seif, having WSOP Player of the Year contender David Benyamine is leading the pack by nearly 90 points. On more than one occasion he had two players at the final table and up to four players cash in the same event. Well done Mark, unfortunately you've only earned my team one single point thanks to your cash in Event 27.

Gary Wise is also trying to make a run at things. He earned nearly a quarter of his points from Kenny Tran's victory in the heads-up event, but two more final tables from Chris Ferguson didn't hurt either.

In an effort to make a miracle happen, I dropped Kirk Morrison, who apparently isn't playing much and added Joe Hachem. Lance Bradley made a similar move by dropping Sorel Mizzi and adding Nikolay Evdakov, who has cashed seven times so far this year.

Here are the standings after Event 39.

Seif: 499
Wise: 407
Lance Bradley: 307
Joe Sebok: 304
Gavin Smith: 297
Peter "Nordberg" Feldman: 206 Bernard Lee: 185
Bill Edler: 177
Your lowly blogger: 159
Daniel Negreanu: 158
Steve "Chops" Preiss: 143

Small blinds:

I'm not kidding. I just got a press release for the first ever poker musical. From the release: "The story of All In: The Poker Musical revolves around the final nine players at the Main Event of the World Series of Poker and, just like in the real WSOP, these players come from all walks of life. These clearly identifiable characters sing songs that are interlaced with poker analogies, quotes and situations that also apply to the game of life." A poker musical? Really? Have we taken things too far? … Jacobo Fernandez leads David Benyamine by two points in the Player of the Year race. Fernandez has cashed five times with three final tables. He has finished second, third and fourth. … Speaking of the Player of the Year, the $50,000 HORSE event will count in its standings. This was changed last week after an email by one of the players in contention. … Baseball great Orel Hershiser, hockey star Jeremy Roenick, Miami Heat basketball player Earl Barron and Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss have all been seen playing during this year's WSOP. …