2008’s World Series of Poker got off to a flying start, destroying all previous attendance records in its promotion of the first $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournament.

On the first day alone, it is said that 3,500 poker competitors attended the two-day starting tournament looking for the chance to win the $750,000 first place prize, and those numbers have increased.

The main event for WSOP is still the no-limit Texas Hold’em Championship, but the recently added H.O.R.S.E tournament (created by professional players) seems to be steadily growing in popularity. Many players now believe that H.O.R.S.E. is the real tournament that decides who is the world’s best player, since many of the winner’s of WSOP are amateurs.
In any case, the coming matches are going to be intense as each player competes for 1 of the nine places available for the final match.

There is one major change though to the line up of this year's WSOP- the last nine players from the main event are now expected to compete against one another on the 9-10th November instead of on July 16th.

Reports state, the nine remaining players will each receive the 9th place prize money after their last match before going on to face each another on the 9th November 2008.

There has been much controversy over these new changes to the competitions. Some poker experts feel that leaving the match for 4 months could drastically change the outcome of the game, allowing professional players to learn their opponent’s skills - especially as most WSOP competitors are amateurs.

Despite these fears, WSOP is set to grip the attention of many hopeful poker players who wish to enter, and with over 50 events covering all major varieties of poker; everyone will be waiting eagerly in anticipation to see who the winner of WSOP 2008 is.

Creator of WassPoker.com, Doc understands the growing appeal of poker across the world: “We actually have a series of live events on WassOnline that have become hugely popular over the years, drawing in over poker players from across the globe.”

With the number of online poker players increasing every year, the new attendance records set by the 2008 WSOP championships could easily be broken by the future contenders of WSOP. Only time will tell.

Get a 150 percent deposit bonus of up to $500 when you join WassPoker today - US and UK players welcome!

----

Ace King, Gambling911.com

Originally published June 22, 2008 10:02 pm EST