Non-Hold'em Tournaments Showing Strong Growth at WSOP

When most people talk about poker in today’s world, they’re talking about Hold’em. Ever since ESPN’s coverage of the World Series of Poker led to an explosion in poker’s popularity about a decade ago, millions of players have learned Hold’em, especially the no limit version of the game. If you go to any live or online poker room, the vast majority of the tables will be playing Hold’em.

But Hold’em isn’t the only poker game in town, and the size of various fields at the 2010 World Series of Poker seems to suggest that there are many players flocking to less popular games. Of course, the Hold’em tournaments are still the ones that draw the biggest fields, and the main event is in no danger of switching away from No Limit Hold’em anytime soon.

But while the numbers for Hold’em tournaments are mostly holding steady, other tournaments are enjoying growth year-over-year. In fact, nearly every non-Hold’em event has showed an increase in competitors over the same tournament from last year’s World Series. This includes recent events like the $3,000 HORSE tournament, the $2,500 razz tournament, and the $1,500 PL Omaha high/low event.

One big factor in these increases, at least for poker professionals, is the increased chance of winning a World Series of Poker bracelet in non-Hold’em tournaments. Because the fields are still much smaller, the odds of coming out on top are significantly better – even if Hold’em isn’t your best game. For some pros with big prop bets on winning a bracelet either this year or in the near future, there’s simply no way they can turn down the chance to compete against a small field. On the other hand, amateur players are unlikely to flock to these tournaments anytime soon, as they tend to have a high percentage of professional players, making it tough going for inexperienced players.

Overall, this increase has helped fuel a very successful World Series of Poker for the Rio. The first 41 events of the 2010 World Series have drawn over 44,000 entries – about an 18% increase over what the same events drew last year.