Will Poker See Record Numbers at WSOP again?

The world of poker has been reeling since the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) was passed by Congress September 30 and signed into law Friday October 13.

There is a wide range of speculation about the ramifications of the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Some expect the equivalent of the 1929 stock market crash in terms of its impact on poker events, related businesses and all people concerned, since the bill literally affects over 12 million online gambling Americans. Others compare its effectiveness and ridiculousness to Prohibition (see George Will's Newsweek article: Prohibition II: Good Grief!)

But more dear to the heart of poker players is how the UIGEA may reduce the number of entrants to the globe's richest and most-esteemed poker game, the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the brainchild of Benny Binion and now run by Harrah's Entertainment.

Thanks mainly to the Internet, the number of WSOP players has sharply risen. In 2003, only 839 participants took part in the Main Event when accountant Chris Moneymaker transformed a $40 Internet tournament into the $2.5 million grand prize. In 2006, 8,773 players registered for the Main Event for their share of the $82.5 million prize pool, where estimates peg that over half these registrants won their seat on tournaments from online poker sites.

PokerStars said it paid the way for 1,600 players who qualified online for the 2006 WSOP. Bodog said it sent more than 500 entrants.

The UIGEA gives a government body 270 days (till July 10, 2007) to define procedures for banks and financial institutions to follow to comply. Then more time will be needed to implement the new procedures. So when the rules are defined then implemented, it is anticipated that the scores of internet players winning seats to the WSOP will be drastically reduced.

Many articles say that without the Internet Poker sites, the WSOP will quickly fall out of the mainstream, leaving behind only those with a true passion for the game. This will then cause a huge problem for WSOP promoters because the event needs new players and spectators each year, as well as confidence from their advertisers to be a success.

Nolan Dalla predicted, "Big events like the World Series of Poker, which attract many players and great interest from online poker sites, could decline in size for the first time in history."

Mike Sexton, who hosts the popular World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel, said the ban would hurt what has become considered a sport. "I wouldn't say it would put poker in a death spiral but in the long run it will hurt the growth of poker," he said. "The World Series of Poker is going to be devastated over this."

"It's going to affect the average player most dramatically. And those players are the ones that have kind of filled the ranks," said Michael Bolcerek, president of the Poker Players Alliance, a 130,000-member group that continues to fight for exemption or regulation of poker.

But there are others who think that online sites who send folks to the WSOP will continue to operate.

Frank Catania, former director of gaming enforcement in New Jersey and president of Catania Consulting Group, says the UIGEA won't stop online betting in the U.S. "There are so many alternate means of payment that it is not going to stop what is happening here," says Catania.

Casino operators are also thinking positive. "Poker's enormous popularity won't be changed," said Alan Feldman, spokesman for MGM Mirage Inc.

The number of poker tables in Las Vegas has surged from 142 in 2003 to 405 in 2006, which many attribute to the Internet whetting the appetite of players to visit physical casinos to be able to look into the eyes of the players around the poker table.

Organizers for the World Series of Poker, televised by Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN, also said they were not daunted by the new law. Before the legislation was enacted, ESPN, which has covered the tournament since 1993, signed on to cover it through 2010.

Tournament spokesman Gary Thompson said since 2005, organizers have not accepted third-party registrations for the $10,000 buy-in main event directly from online gambling companies with U.S. operations, and that hasn't stopped it from attracting record fields. "In 2005 and 2006 we had record fields each year. We're confident again that 2007 will be the best one ever," Thompson said.

Thompson noted that the loophole which allows players who qualify online to pay their own entry fees directly (after receiving their entry fees from online poker sites) would continue to pass muster with regulators.

"We're planning to accommodate a larger field than we ever had before," Thompson said. "But whether or not we'll have a larger field, nobody really knows."

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