The 5 things at the WSOP that tilt me

The Bracelets

At least this year they started to move away from the 1980’s flat face gold bracelets they have been awarding, but still, bracelets??? Aren’t the winners of competitions usually given some form of a trophy? The WSOP needs to move away from the Bracelet as the trophy, and start handing out trophies. If it’s a matter of giving the prize some value maybe offer a piece of jewelry people still actually wear, like a commemorative watch –a men’s version and a women’s version.

The Bracelet Ceremonies

Is there a more awkward situation than having to sit some ceremony you don’t want to be a part of while thousands of people who want it to be over and done with pretend to feign interest?

Playing national anthems at the World Series is the definition of the word awkward. Give the player their bracelet after they win the tournament, there is no need to honor them the following day.

The Rambunctious Rails

I don’t see how having your friends and family wildly cheer for you after every won pot improves focus or concentration, in fact I would argue it does just the opposite. Every time I see these rowdy rails I think back to the scene in Happy Gilmore where Tim Matheson’s character says something along the lines of, “This is golf not at a rock concert!”

I’m all for “fun” and making poker enjoyable, but honestly there is nothing enjoyable about listening to the rails at the WSOP final tables. I’m not saying they should muzzle the crowd, but can we at least let a successful blind steal or continuation bet go by with little more than a polite golf-clap?

Live Reporting FAILS

I don’t really fault the WSOP for this and I don’t really fault PokerNews (the site that does the WSOP live reporting) but if you can’t do something right maybe we should tone-down the amount of coverage we are trying to relay.

Put a few solid reporters on duty to post who has busted, who is short and who has a huge stack in the early levels, and as the field gets thinned out THEN start getting more detailed and report on specific hands and chip counts. There is no need to try to keep up with the chip counts during Level 3 of a 3-day tournament.

Anyone who needs more than this can be directed to Twitter.

The Continued Attempt to Reinvent the Wheel

Every year the WSOP tries to add new events, new features, and so on, and every year I’m left thinking, “It’s a poker tournament, just deal the cards and play the game!” These minor tweaks to the rules and structures (that sometimes cause MAJOR issues) have good intentions, but at some point you just have to go with what has worked in the past. Do we really need reentires, separate starting days, talking about your hand rules, hard stop rules, etc?