The WSOP 2013 has been a massive success in terms of player turnout as well as crowds. The series is taking place at the Rio in Las Vegas and is scheduled to come to a close later next week.
The WSOP has also seen its fair share of celebrity actors and sportsmen. Some of those who have recently visited the event include the likes of Ray Romano, Kevin Pollak, Jennifer Tilly and Shane Warne.
Over the weekend, a $10,000 buy-in, no-limit Texas Hold ‘em main took place and quite a few celebrities decided to take part. The event will continue till the 15th of July, where the playing field will get trimmed to a final 9. These final 9 players will then have to pick up the game in the month of November, when the competition final is scheduled to be played and aired on popular sports channel ESPN.
While the attendance of celebrities to the WSOP is good for marketing and promotion material, there are those who question the seriousness of these celebrity visits. One of the main reasons for this is because it takes a lot of dedication, focus and long hours for a player to win a poker event. Hence, the question arises as to whether these celebrity visits are merely for publicity and to gain a little more limelight.
However, Ray Romano and Kevin Pollak were still in the game on late Tuesday along with Torstein Horgmo who is a Norwegian snowboarder, NHL goaltender Roberto Luongo, Australian cricket legend Shane Warne and FC Barcelona soccer player Gerard Pique. There is no question that some of the names mentioned here are serious about the game of poker and want to see how well they ride their luck.
However, the real spotlight of the WSOP is the main event which will see a strong player pool of some of the most well known names in the poker community. Some of the players still in the running include Phil Ivey who is to Poker what Tiger Woods is to golf, Greg Merson who is the defending champion, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth and Pius Heinz from Germany.
The winner of the main event a the WSOP will take away a prize of around $8.4 million and a prestigious gold-diamond-drenched bracelet, which is arguably the greatest recognition anyone can get in the game of poker.
