Gaming Guru

WSOP prepared for 10,000, but U.S. facing poker rooms facing online satellite restrictions

The World Series of Poker will be prepared for 10,000 entries in the Main Event this year, but Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack refused to predict if the tournament will once again produce a record-breaking field.

"We're always planning for a better tournament than the year prior," Pollack said during a conference call. "We hope that that will mean bigger, but it may not always mean bigger. And that's okay."

Many poker pundits predicted a drop in WSOP participation after Harrah's announced it would no longer accept third-party registrations from Internet poker rooms that accept bets from U.S. players.

But the restriction haven't deterred several sites that accept U.S. play from running unauthorized WSOP satellites.

"We haven't finalized the details of how we'll buy players into the WSOP," reads the answer to a question on a FAQ page on PokerStars.com "As soon as we have those details, we'll let you know. In the meantime, we can reassure you that if you win one of our satellites, you will have a seat in the 2007 WSOP main event."

Pollack indicated that Harrah's and the WSOP would not stand idly by while sites run unauthorized satellites. Sites that ignore Harrah's demands to stop violating the WSOP trademark will not be allowed to advertise on players' apparel.

"We have begun a trademark education sweep of the dot-com sites and we are helping people to understand how they are violating our trademark rights and getting them to stop doing that," Pollack said. "So anyone violating our trademark rights, if they have been outfitting players, those players are going to need to find something else to wear before they are able to play in the tournament."