WSOP 2002
Like many avid spectators of not only professional poker but current events at large, I spent much of 2002 watching the war crimes trial of the late Slobodan Milosovich, former leader of Yugoslavia.
Not since the O.J. Simpson trial had there been a case of such spellbinding drama. The "Butcher of Belgrade" proved to be one of the most colorful yet undeniably repulsive defendants ever to sit in the dock. Since the trial took place in Europe, there was a somewhat civilized and even elegant feeling to the awful proceedings. But the trial competed with a number of other compelling events on the world stage. The U.S. absolutely decimated the Taliban in retribution for the tragedy of September 11th and everyone around the world held their breath and waited to see what each new day would bring. In another area of the planet not so far away, there was horrific violence committed during a Hindu/Muslim conflict. It seemed like there was no place on Earth where peace and prosperity could be found in 2002. Though there was no actual bloodshed, the World Series of Poker also proved to be a contentious affair. Many of us marveled that it was the 33rd anniversary of the tournament invented by the late great Benny Binion. As had always been the case since the very first year, all the action unfolded at Binion's casino on Fremont Street in the downtown area of Las Vegas. In troubling times, one must take solace in whenever measures of familiarity can be found. It is doubtful, however that any of the players were able to relax and bask in the glow of history during that highly contentious tournament. A massive number of competitors assembled at the tables. In all, there were 631 entrants to the main event, which made for almost unbearable levels of tensions and excitement. Many spectators, including myself, found it impossible to predict which of these poker gladiators would emerge victorious and take the big prize. And while I have seldom enjoyed even a moderately respectable level of accuracy when it comes to predicting winners, I was really way off the mark in 2002. In fact, Robert Varkonyi did not even make my top ten list. But that just goes to show you how constantly surprising - and therefore eminently watchable - the WSOP is each and every year. And by the way, Robert took home the biggest grand prize in history the tournament: $2,000,000. by Arthur Crowson | |
