Back in May, I made Five Easy 2012 WSOP Predictions[http://www. pokerjunkie. com/five-easy-2012-wsop-predictions] just prior to the 2012 World Series of Poker kicking off. With the Main Event now on hiatus until October, I figured it was time to revisit those picks and see whether I hit the mark.

I just finished watching Allen Kessler's interview with QuadJacks at the 2012 World Series of Poker about poker players who smoke weed during the breaks of poker tournaments. The video is at the bottom of this post for those that haven't seen it yet. I must admit that I totally side with Allen on this matter and it does indeed boggle my mind that many young poker players go out of their way to smoke weed on breaks. I know some of you think that it helps you play better, but as Allen says, it does not.

Phil Hellmuth finally took down his 12th WSOP bracelet last night by winning the $2,500 Razz Event.   This was going down while the "Tiger Woods of Poker", Phil Ivey, was going after his 9th over in the $10k PL Hold'em Event. In the end, Hellmuth continued to add to his career total while Ivey just missed out.   Thinking about it, if Ivey is the "Tiger Woods of Poker", wouldn't that make Hellmuth Jack Nicklaus? Think about it.

Every year at the WSOP Main Event, the question is always asked whether you would rather have the money or the WSOP bracelet. Until recent years, the answer was largely "I want the bracelet. " Now it is shifting more to the "give me the $8 Million. " So far at this year's WSOP, two faces that have not been seen at the tables are Tom Dwan and Doyle Brunson.

A little subdrama that has been going on at the 2012 WSOP over the first couple of days has been the bathroom situation. Essentially, what has happened is that the men have more bathrooms than the ladies. On Day 1 both main hallway bathrooms near the Pavilion Room were designated as men's bathrooms and the ladies had to hoof it down to the dealer's entrance in order to use the restroom. On Day 2 it appeared that one of those bathrooms at the dealer's entrance got changed to a men's room and that out of six potential restrooms, women only have two now and none in the tournament area.

The 2012 World Series of Poker kicked off earlier today with the Casino Employees Event. This will be the slowest day at the WSOP for a while as it is the only event running today, meaning that tomorrow is when the Rio will start to get a little crazy. So far, it appears that the numbers for the event will be a bit down. Right now there are around 733 players registered for the event and as such will have a decent drop off from the 850 players from last year.

Some of you that watched the live coverage of the 2011 WSOP Main Event may remember Daniel Negreanu throwing a mild tantrum when he wasn't allowed to talk during a hand at the featured table. When this went down, I voiced my opinion that I would not be surprised to see that rule changed before the 2012 WSOP. I wish I had put some money on that.

The 2012 World Series of Poker schedule has been officially released and will be held from May 27th through July 16th, 2012. This year’s WSOP will feature 61 bracelets events, culminating in the WSOP Main Event. Yesterday, it was announced that the November Nine would not be returning.   While this is technically true, the final table of the WSOP Main Event will still be delayed.

A couple of big pieces of news came out today regarding the 2012 World Series of Poker. First, the 2012 WSOP will be held from May 27th through July 16, 2012. The complete schedule of events will be released tomorrow. Also, WSOP officials announced that the event will use 470 tables for the event, an increase of 100 tables from last year.

The dates for the 2012 World Series of Poker have been set, but not officially released.