Poker Going More Mainstream?
Written by Raj on August 5th, 2006
Canadian poker pro and writer Daniel Negreanu says that when the WSOP (World Series of Poker) started in the early 1970s, there were barely 50 players. In this year’s 37th Annual WSOP, which is currently in progress, over 8600 players were in the starting gates, each paying the $10,000 entry fee - which was present even in the ’70s.
Let’s see, that’s $86 million overall, to compete for12 top prizes of at least $1 million. But despite the popularity, Negreanu says that the $50,000 buy-in for the 2006 H.O.R.S.E. tourney was more important, and in his opinion, the winner, Chris Reese, is the true World Champion of Poker, not whomever wins this year’s WSOP.
Poker is enjoying such popularity right now that a lot of businesses want in on the action. Who better than Playboy, with their four-day Playboy Poker Camp. Cost is $5K or $7.5K, depending on the package you choose. Some biggies in the poker biz, including Chris Moneymaker and Layne Flack will be instructors. [via Card Squad] The tournament takes place from Jan 17-21, 2007, in Palm Springs, California.
If you’re not sick yet of the Ocean’s 11 series of movies, lucky Ocean’s 13 (aka sequel #2) is about to start shooting, and will have an exclusive on-set poker lounge for the cast. [via The Daily Dish] You may recall that one of the several well-known stars of 11 publicly shot his mouth off about how much he disliked the other stars and why. (It was either George Clooney or Brad Pitt, but which one escapes me.) But then again, maybe he just was acting.
But enough of professional and celebrity poker players, and combinations thereof. The APAT, or Amateur Poker Association & Tour has just launched in England. [via Poker News] Wouldn’t be surprised if more amateur associations popped up.
Related Posts
- Jesus wins main event
- 2005 WSOP: Pot Limit Omaha
- WPT Borgata Poker Open - What Up, D?
- Greg Raymer
- Norman Chad: No Need for HD in Poker
1 Comment to “Poker Going More Mainstream?”
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.



The Poker Blog » Poker Update: Gold Wins The Green: WSOP Championship
August 11th, 2006 at 5:18 pm
[…] Yes, the $12 million top prize of the 2006 37th WSOP Championship went to Jamie Gold, a Hollywood talent agent. He and most of the thousands of people who entered got their $10,000 entry fee from playing online poker, so they’re obviously against the pending legislation making Internet poker illegal. […]