The top 5 stories from the 2014 WSOP
With the Main Event in full flow, Barry Carter recaps what he thinks were the biggest stories from the World Series of Poker this year.
5. George Danzer's double
Every year one player wins two bracelets at the WSOP (And check out this column with an explanation why), and this year it was the turn of georgedanzer.
He won the Championship events in both Razz and Stud Hi/Lo to capture his first and second career bracelets.
You won't find a more popular winner, George is one of the gentlemen of poker and after a lot of near misses, he finally captured gold.
For me these victories are even more pertinent because we have been interviewing George for years at PokerStrategy.com, and he has always been very vocal about how badly he wanted to win a bracelet, so for him to win two in as many weeks makes it an almost fairytale ending for the German.
4. The year of the pro
So many big names took down bracelets this year, and in many cases they won their second or third career bracelet in 2014.
The list is too long to mention all of the notables, but they include Dominik Nitsche, Dutch Boyd, Brock Parker, Ted Forrest, Justin Bonomo, Davidi Kitai, Doug Polk, Joe Cada, Robert Mizrachi, John Hennigan, Bryn Kenney and Dan Kelly.
Vanessa Selbst won her third career bracelet, and in doing so became the first female player over the $10 million mark in lifetime earnings.
Maybe most notable of all, Phil Ivey won his 10th career bracelet, to tie him in second place for all time bracelets, and to help win presumably millions in prop bets on top of it.
3. RIP Chad and Johannes
Neither were strictly WSOP stories, but it is hard to deny that we will always associate the 2014 WSOP with the sad passing of both Chad Brown and Johannes Strassmann.
Brown passed away after a long battle with cancer aged 52 and Strassmann died in mysterious circumstances in Slovenia aged just 29.
Both men were tremendously popular in the poker community, considered very much two of the good guys, and the shock of their deaths was magnified by the fact they happened so close together.
The WSOP made a very classy statement prior to Brown's passing by awarding him an honorary bracelet:
2. One Drop's Drop
In 2012 it was the biggest thing anyone talked about, at the 2014 WSOP the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop was something of a disappointment (Except for the charity, which once again benefited greatly).
First of all the numbers were down even though the cap was lifted. I and many other people felt that this would be another sell out, but instead it attracted just 42 entrants.
Then we had the calamity that was the eventual champion Daniel Colman refusing to give interviews, and choosing to decry the game that had just made him $15 million richer. I was on holiday when this happened so I haven't had time to form an opinion on him, but my immediate thoughts are that it was a shame the greatest ambassador we have, Daniel Negreanu, didn't beat him heads-up, as he would have created much more positive publicity for the game and the charity.
With the drop in numbers and less rich businessmen this time around, I wonder how much interest there will be in this event in 2016?
1. The mid-stakes show the way
The most fascinating thing for me has been the unbridled success of some of the lower buy-in events. I think they will have a huge impact on future WSOP schedules.
We have already forgot that this year managed to attract over 1,000 runners for a PLO event, after the first $1,000 buy-in event for that format. The $1,000 Seniors Event once again showed growth too, and the Little One for One Drop had another strong outing.
Then we had the Millionaire Maker, which crushed its own guarantee by quite a margin. With 7,977 entries it was the second biggest field ever (But a re-entry).
However, the real shock of the WSOP was the 7,862 people who bought in for the Monster Stack. This was the second biggest field of unique entries in history and nobody expected this turnout. I have no doubt that this will have a profound impact on the WSOP next year, as the people have clearly spoken that they want deep stacks in their $1,500 events.
Which big stories did I miss that stuck out to you? Let me know your favourite stories from the 2014 WSOP in the comments box.
 Barry Carter is the editor of PokerStrategy.com and the co-author of The Mental Game of Poker 1 & 2. He has been working in the poker industry for nine years and in 2013 won the APAT Award for Best Poker Media Provider. You can learn more about his work here.
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