A look at the 2013 WSOP Conference Call

For the 44^th consecutive year the poker world is getting ready for the World Series of Poker tournament series in Las Vegas, and another WSOP means another WSOP conference call for members of the poker media. Last year I sat through the conference call but this year I had to listen to a recording of the conference call due to a prior obligation (a big thanks to Pokerati for making the audio recording available) which was actually a much better way in my opinion.

So what did we learn during the conference call? Basically the same we get every year, which is to say very little in the way of groundbreaking news, but clarification on a number of details. Below you’ll find a quick summary of the more important/interesting details that came to light during the conference call:

• Security might be increased this year after the Boston Marathon attack, but WSOP officials would not go into detail regarding specific increased security measures. They did say that there may be random searches, but players would still be allowed to bring in backpacks and bags as they have in years past.
• The WSOP Player of the Year winner will now be awarded a trophy as well as receiving buy-ins to the WSOP, WSOPE, and WSOP APAC Main Events next year courtesy of BLUFF Magazine which is once again handling the POY rankings and formula. The daily Deepstacks tournaments at the 2013 WSOP will also keep track of player performance, with the top performer receiving a WSOP Main Event seat.
• “Despite what Todd Witteles Tweets…” was how WSOP officials began their response to the question of when the WSOP.com website will be launching. While they were vague regarding when the site would officially be launching, they did indicate it would be sometime this summer.
• ESPN coverage will be down to 40 hours this year, with the Main Event final table once again being shown live with a 30-minute hole-card delay.
• There will be a little more leeway regarding the hard-stop rule, which halts play after 10 levels of play, if I understand their response to this question correctly. According to Jack Effel it will be extremely rare for a tournament to go beyond 11 levels on any given day.
• The WSOP is taking it old-school, with the reintroduction of the Carnivale of Poker. The original Carnivale of Poker was part of the WSOP from 1998-2000, but the new incarnation will feature a different format. Carnivale tournaments will take place throughout the WSOP, ranging in buy-ins from $365 to $1,675, as well as the non-bracelet Open-Faced Chinese Poker tournament. Players will receive points and $100,000 in prize-money will be awarded to the Top 10 Carnivale of Poker players.