The Black Friday incident caused quite a lot of changes in the poker industry, with many players suffering the most because of their uprooted lifestyles and their bankrolls put in serious danger of never getting returned. As such, some people have begun questioning how the WSOP will be affected by the whole thing. People are expecting that it will affect the player turnout negatively, but officials are expecting that things will straighten themselves out before the tournament starts and there will be no actual negative effects on the tournament.

Things will turn out well, hopefully

The Black Friday incident caused a lot of players to have their bankrolls temporarily unavailable, and as such, it’s 50-50 on whether they’ll be attending the World Series of Poker. As exciting as the tournament sounds, there are still some people out there who would prefer not to risk anything just yet, especially with the current crisis in online poker. This is the primary concern of WSOP tournament officials. There is less than a month left before the WSOP starts, and only PokerStars has begun giving out refunds. Tournament officials are getting concerned that the people won’t get their bankrolls fast enough to actually join the WSOP this year. But then they’re hopeful that most will make it on time, especially since Full Tilt looks as if it’s soon to be ready with its refunds as well. Absolute Poker has also made an agreement with the US Department of Justice just recently, so it appears that they’ll be able to begin with the process too.

Other Issues

Of course, the unavailability of players’ bankrolls isn’t the only thing concerning the minds the WSOP tournament officials. The matter of funding and advertising was also affected by the Black Friday incident. PokerStars and Full Tilt are heavily active on advertising during the WSOP, but this year it looks as if we’ll have to go without the usual banners, caps, and such. Players used to attend tournaments wearing Full Tilt gear or PokerStars Paraphernalia or whatever poker room they’re playing at, but now it seems unlikely that people will willingly want to do that. Pros are in a bit of a bind as well. After all, other players will probably see red if ever they see a Full Tilt pro wearing all the advertising frills during the WSOP if Full Tilt hasn’t begun the issuing of refunds by then.

Other People Found This Page When Searching For: