2009 WSOP Announces More Chips, Better Structure

This year’s edition of the World Series of Poker will be structured in a deeper stack format a little more than it has been in the past. With the natural aggression of the internet player changing the tempo of the lower buy-in events, the small chip stacks were not providing players with enough room to operate, and many felt that the events forced the action too early in the tournament. To change this WSOP tournament director Jack Effel announced that players will receive 3x the buy-in as a starting stack for all events.

In previous years chip stacks have been 2x the buy-in amount, and only a few years ago they were the same amount as the buy-in. Last year Jack Effel and the WSOP organizers collaborated with players and implemented many improvements. These changes helped to make the 2008 WSOP a big success, and Effel and his returning tournament staff feel they can make it even better this year.

“We went and did our homework and worked with the player’s advisory and competition committee,” said Effel. “This is the best possible structure for the amount of the money the players are putting in. All events will have three times the buy-in for starting chips.”

There are three changes implemented this year. First the $1,000 events will get $3,000 worth of chips. There will also be two more levels ($25/$25 and $75/$150). The $1,500 through $5,000 events will get three times the chips and two added levels: $75/$150 and $1,200/$2,400. And finally the $10,000 main event will start with $30,000 compared with $20,000 in 2008.

“This is the ‘Year of the Tweak,’” added Effel. “We got a lot of things right last year. We just needed to tweak some things to make it even better. It’s a very prestigious event, but in terms of value, if you ever thought about coming out to the WSOP or if you were going to choose one event, I’d say come to the Rio this summer.”

WSOP promoters are confident that they have the best structured tournament anywhere. If two times the buy-in was better, then three times will surely be an improvement. Tournament staff feels that the added chips and extra blind levels will not make the tournaments much longer, if at all. The final nine would reach the last stage of the tournament at the same time, but early and mid tournament play will increase.

“It’s a tough economy, so we wanted to make sure our poker players were getting the most value,” said Effel. “But this is about making the tournaments better for the longevity.”

The WSOP has improved the tournament over the last four years, and 2009 looks like it will be the best yet. With so many online satellite WSOP package promotions being awarded, we will likely see the biggest events yet. This is for sure; the Rio will be ready for whatever the poker community throws at them, and we can be sure that there will be fewer mistakes than in previous years.