Skip navigation
sponsored by 

The place is buzzing

By Bob Harkins, MSNBC.com
Posted July 8, 6:55 p.m. ET

And on the third day, the World Series of Poker got it’s buzz back.

Through the first two days of the main event, the talk was of the numbers being down, a lack of organization, problems with security and many of the big name players busting out early.

But the mood seems up on Day 3 (technically Day 1C). The hallways outside the main room is clearly more crowded, and officials claimed more than 1,700 players were in action, and several tables had to be set up in the tent outside.

WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack told me that the security problems of the past days had been fixed, with only a handful of spectators allowed in to view the feature table, unlike the apparent random application of the rules in the first two days. And in fairness, the gallery has been much smaller so far.

Pollack also made it clear he was not happy about having to put some players in the tent, where the air conditioning went out during a satellite on Friday. He mysteriously offered that he was planning for a completely new “footprint” for the WSOP by 2009. What “footprint” meant, he wouldn’t say specifically. Could mean a new room, could mean a new site completely, but he was purposefully vague. Stay tuned, I guess.

Several well-known players were in action Sunday, including Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Chris Moneymaker and Humberto Brenes. And Sunday also seemed to be big with celebrity types, with actors Jennifer Tilly, Shannon Elizabeth and Jason Alexander, rapper Nellie, and former light-heavyweight boxing champion Antonio Tarver, who announced to the crowd, “This is the only chance you’ll have to knock me out.”

Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here

Despite the multitude of serious faces around the room, the mood was light, with laughter rippling through the crowd after the first player busted out, and congratulations were passed along to the rest over the loudspeaker.

Slide show
Hevad Khan
Card sharks
Take a visual tour of the sights at the World Series of Poker’s main event.

more photos

Moneymaker sat at the feature table, which is cordoned off from the rest of the room, surrounded by bleachers, dark backdrop and an ESPN crew. Each player at the feature table was handed a clipboard and asked to fill out a survey before play started so the TV crew would have background information.

Interactive
Meet the players
A look at the legends, stars and young guns of poker

Each player also all had to wear microphones. Which was fine, except for one guy dressed in a Chicago Cubs jersey. Apparently his mike didn’t work, and a crew member worked feverishly to fix it while the player was at the table.

One crew member assured me that “if he was in a pot, we wouldn’t be messing with him.”

© 2007 MSNBC Interactive

  MORE FROM POKER  
  
Cosmic Log: Humans beat poker bot ... barely
 
Add Poker headlines to your news reader:
 

Sponsored links