World Series of Poker owner Harrah's has taken a number of significant initiatives over the last week in an effort to strengthen it's relations with the professional poker community. To begin with a $50,000 HORSE event was added to the 2006 WSoP schedule. Secondly Jeffrey Pollack was appointed as "Commissioner of the World Series of Poker". Finally a player advisory panel was created to give the players a formal "voice" in the organization of the World Series.
New $50,000 buy-in HORSE event
The 2006 World Series of Poker will be the first ever to feature an event with a buy-in of more than $10,000. The new event is a $50,000 buy-in HORSE tournament, a combination of No Limit Texas Holdem, Omaha, Razz, Seven Card Stud and Seven Card Stud Eights or Better. The event was added in reaction to player comments, and serves to enhance the quality of the World Series.
Because of the high buy-in and the variety of poker skills required to win a HORSE poker tournament, the new event is specifically targeted at a select elite of professional poker players. In all respect, it's hard to imagine that an event like this could be won by a recreational player. The HORSE event will greatly improve the quality of the World Series of Poker, and it could even become bigger than the main event in terms of total prize money.
The HORSE tournament is a three-day event that starts Tuesday, July 25, 2006. The 2006 WSoP now features 45 events in total. It will begin on June 25th and the final table is scheduled for Thursday, August 10th at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Schedule of the 2006 World Series of Poker
Jeffrey Pollack appointed as "Commissioner of the World Series of Poker"
Jeffrey Pollack, the vice president of sports and entertainment marketing for Harrah's, has taken on the new and added role of "Commissioner of the World Series of Poker". In his new role Pollack is responsible for "develop[ing] a strong sense of community among our players, tournament organizers, event staff, media partners, sponsors, licensees, and corporate management team," according to Ginny Shanks, Harrah's senior vice president of brand management.
New player advisory panel created
Finally Harrah's has decided it was time to give players a formal voice in the organization of the WSoP by creating a "player advisory panel". The current members of the panel are: Chris Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen, Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu and David Williamson. Eventually, an amateur player will be added to the panel.
The advisory panel will meet on a regular basis with Jeffrey Pollack, the recently appointed "Commissioner of the World Series of Poker" (see above). The advisory panel will work together with Pollack and other Harrah's executives to improve player experience in all WSoP events.
David Williamson commented: "By forming this advisory board, Harrah's has shown a commitment to preserving and protecting the World Series of Poker, while constantly striving to improve every facet."