2010 WSOP Harrah's Media Conference Call

On Tuesday, Harrah's held a telephone conference call with members of the media regarding the 2010 WSOP.  Compncards was among those in attendance.

Representing Harrahs were Jack Effel, Ty Stewart, and Seth Palansky.  Effel is the VP of the WSOP and is the Tournament Director for the 2010 WSOP.

Las Vegas poker metropolis

Stewart handles more of the business side of things and is also a VP of the WSOP.  Palansky is the communications director for Harrahs.

Joining them were Joe Cada and Annette Obrestad.  Joe Cada is the current reigning WSOP Main Event Champion and Obrestad is the 2007 WSOP-E Main Event Champion.  This is her first year of eligibility for the Vegas WSOP.

Here are a few of the highlights of the call.

Year of the No-Limits

Ty Stewart announced that organizers have dubbed this year "the year of the No-Limits."  With a $1k NL event every weekend and one just before the World Series of Poker 2010 Main Event, they are expecting to have even stronger showings in the NL events.

Phil Ivey is the Top Vote Getter For TOC So Far

During the call, it was revealed that Phil Ivey is the top vote getter thus far for the 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions.  Over 300,000 votes have been cast and Ivey is at the top.  An interesting stat that was brought up is that over 98% of people casting votes on the site are not completing a full ballot.  20 players must be too much for some people to bother with.

Bracelet Ceremony Expanded

This will be the 2nd year that the bracelet ceremony will be held for winners of any bracelet.  This year, there will be a huge stage in the Pavillion Room complete with concert style lighting and PA systems.  They want to give the WSOP the feeling of the "Olympics of Poker."

Pre-Registration Numbers Up

Pre-registration numbers are up big time this year over last year.  The Main Event has had a big influx of pre-registrations and there is talk of maybe having to cut off Day 1d at some point to allow for the other days to be balanced.  In addition to the Main Event, the 1k events, and the Seniors event are the events with the largest number of pre-registrations.

WSOP Africa

Also of note is the face that when asked about the WSOP Africa event, the group was told that the gun was jumped on announcing the event and that negotiations were still underway.  It was confirmed that the event will be a circuit event and not a bracelet event.

Everest Poker Sponsorship

In addition, when asked about whether the WSOP would replace Everest Poker as the on-felt sponsor, the only answers given were "We are under contract with Everest" and "We are not shopping a new sponsor."  Online streaming of non-televised events was also discussed with ESPN said to be working on a solution.  An announced is expected soon.

Not a lot of new information was presented in the call with a lot of information that was shared already out amongst most poker publications.  Most of the questions to Cada and Obrestad were typical fluff type questions.  It appears that things are in place for a strong 2010 WSOP.  If you have a chance, go out and take part in the largest poker spectacle on the planet.