There's a reason the poker industry calls it "The Big One." Time and again you hear how there's no event like it in the world. Whether in the realm of sport or culture, the main event of the World Series of Poker is beyond comparison, with high-eight-figure prize pools and an invitation policy that says anyone short of a chimpanzee can enter if they have their $10,000. Throw in fame, history and the rare ability to walk in the footprints of the giants who came before and "unique" doesn't do the trick, because so many things in this world are unique, but so very few couple that quality with transcendence.
Tuesday night, the 2008 WSOP main event experience starts. Chances are you've been following the 2008 World Series of Poker on ESPN. If you have, you know it's been a stellar year for viewing because of the stars and the controversy. Still, despite the names, the prizes and the prestige, that's all served as a lead-up. Now the real show starts.
The biggest world competition of any kind boasted the second-largest live poker tournament field of all time, with 6,844 players and the uncertainty of the unknown inherent in the November Nine experiment. Throw in Scotty Nguyen reflecting on his memorable (haunting?) victory in the $50,000 HORSE event, and you have an episode that should prove to be amazing television. It's not just about the television, though.
The main event is about history. "I think that the history and marketing of the WSOP brand established it before and above everyone else," reflected 2005 WSOP main event champion Joe Hachem. "The World Series always goes back to that first tournament and the legends of the game and the road gamblers who put up that $10,000."
That's $10,000 in 1971 money, an amount that Hachem hyperbolizes "Could buy 10 houses!" That 1971 tournament was the first freezeout ever held on record, the brainchild of two world champions -- Amarillo Slim and Puggy Pearson (some credit one, some credit the other) -- at the request of Los Angeles newspaper man Ted Thackery, who suggested the event needed a definitive victor after the 1970 edition was decided by popular vote.
"Winning the main event is about living a dream," Hachem said. "No poker player you talk to would say it's not a massive accomplishment for any player. It's the Holy Grail … always has been. Anyone who wins the World Series is catapulted into a different league. Is it worthy of it? I don't know. It's not what it started off being: The world's best players coming together to decide who the best of them was -- but the World Series champion is the people's champion. It's become truly iconic." "The main event is where poker dreams come true," said WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. "The fact that anyone can enter and anyone can win holds for the entire WSOP, but even more so for the main event. It's the biggest, the richest and most spectacular individual event we have. There are a lot of other $10,000 tournaments, but only one main event. We're set apart by the sheer size, the prize pool and, of course, the bracelet. It's all about the bracelet."
Calling this the richest event in the world is like saying Tiger Woods is a good golfer. The prize pool for 2008 main event, which is recognized as the determinate of the world champion of poker in any given year, is $64,333,600. The disparity between that amount and that of any other official competition in the world makes comparisons unreasonable and unfair. The money, though, isn't all it's about.
"Obviously, you get more money for winning it," Barry Greenstein said. "There's tradition too, though. So many people say it's so hard to win it because there are so many players, that it isn't as prestigious as it used to be, but I think it's even more prestigious now. Everyone understands how unlikely it is to make the final table of that event. If you make it there, you've really accomplished something. The main event has become a marathon, while everything else is something shorter than that. That makes it the most special event. For me, it has the most emotion tied in with it. That event makes you a part of history more than any other event."
"Once you win the main event, you get your picture on the wall for life," said two-time winner Johnny Chan.
There's no subtlety to the statement: Win this tournament and you're a legend for life. For good or bad, you'll never again walk into a poker room again without looks, pointed fingers and whispers. It's a legacy that ties together the past and present and, presumably, the future of the game, along with the four corners of the globe, as poker becomes a true worldwide activity of the masses.
Don't miss it Tuesday night. You won't be disappointed.
When it rains, it pours
While the debut of the main event transcends all, it would be negligent to not tip a hat to John Phan in this space. After waiting for years for his breakthrough, the man is on one of the hottest runs in the history of the tournament game.
Phan -- constantly overlooked for invitation-only tournaments despite a constant presence near the top of assorted player of the year systems -- won't be ignored any more. He finally won his first major brand tournament with a bracelet win at this year's WSOP, then repeated the feat a week later, making him the only man to win two bracelets in 2008. It wasn't enough.
Phan celebrated the end of the '08 WSOP with a fifth-place finish against a very tough field at the WPT's Bellagio Cup in Las Vegas, but that turned out to be foreshadowing. This week at the Legends of Poker in Los Angeles, Phan beat another stellar field for his first televised victory and another $1,091,428.
Comparisons to the aforementioned Nguyen are inevitable. Like Scotty, Phan is a Vietnamese-born pro who drinks at the table and is not above gamesmanship -- two realities made evident in the victory. Regardless of how he got there, though, regardless of the variance in tournament play, you have to respect the skill it takes to win three major tournaments in two months against the best players in the world.
Congrats, Razor, you waited a long time. Those invites will be in the mail.
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