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| Barry Glendenning
writes for the Guardian News Group |
| Friday July 8,
2005 |
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TheEditor on any
subject. |
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| Eyes down for the Big One |
The
main event of the World Series of Poker got underway in Las Vegas on Thursday,
with around 6,000 players competing for over $60m in prize money.
A
day to learn and a lifetime to master. The main event of the World Series of
Poker, the No-Limit Texas Hold 'em World Championship got underway in the Las
Vegas strip's Rio hotel yesterday. With around 6000 players playing for over
$60m in prize money, the tournament has been forced out of Binion's Horseshoe,
the landmark casino that's been home of the the Big One since its inception in
1970, and will only return for the final two days, when the field has been
whittled down to the 27 players who will duke it out for the $6m+ first prize.
This is just one 45 events in the World Series (which started on June 2 in the
Rio's 60,000-square-foot exhibit hall) boasting a dizzying array of entry fees,
poker games and prize money.
You could be forgiven for assuming the
competitors are all men in big hats answering to names like Doc and Slim, but
nothing could be further from the truth. Open to anyone who can lay down the
$10,000 dollar entry fee in cash, the No-Limit Texas Hold 'em World
Championship attracts punters of every stripe and shade. Among the celebrities
slated to take part this year are Hollywood heavyweights James Woods, Toby
Maguire and Matt Damon and the magician Penn Gillette. Actresses Jennifer Tilly
comes into the the Big One on the back of a stirring victory, having seen off
600 rivals to trouser a little shy of $160,000 in the Ladies Poker Championship
on June 27th. Tilly's poker-pro boyfriend Phiul "The Unabomber" Laak will be
joining her in the main event, along with other recognisable buffs such as
Chris Ferguson, former back-to-back winner Doyle Brunson and British contender
Joe Beevers, and a whole host of would-be stars who have travelled to Vegas in
the hope of making names for themselves.
The opening rounds of this
year's big one will be played in three flights over three days, which will see
the field slashed to around 2000 survivors. Not unlike its football equivalent
the World Cup, "survive and advance" is the motto for the heavyweights in the
nervy opening rounds, as the presence of so many players decrees that luck
plays an even more role than usual. "Playing in the World Series of Poker makes
you realize how good people are getting. They watch poker on television, read
books. It's just tougher and tougher," explained Chicago-based management
company CEO John Rogers to the Mercury News. After just three hours at the
table, Rogers was down, out and ready to go home.
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