The World Series of Poker

The 2008 World Series of Poker is now underway and unfortunately I won't be among those participating this year. As I reviewed the list of events some things occurred to me.

It appears that there is a more diverse selection of games offered, but there are still too many no limit hold 'em tournaments. It seems to me that by having too many of the same type of tournament it takes away some of the prestige of winning one. I believe that there shouldn't be more than one tournament at any specific buy-in.

I also wish that there was at least one event for five card stud, five card draw and Kansas City Lowball. These are important games in the history of poker and a single tournament at even a thousand dollar buy-in would be a nice acknowledgement of that fact and a way of keeping the games alive. Given the new hyper-aggressive style practiced by so many players today, there's a decent chance that a no-limit or pot limit version of either five card stud or draw could gain a lot of new players. Many of the practioners of that style love to take any chance they get to show they have bigger balls than everyone else, these games would be right up their alley in my opinion.

Good luck to everyone making the trip to Las Vegas this year. I hope it's a safe, fun and profitable time.