World Series of Poker predictions
With the WSOP getting underway next week, Barry Carter makes five predictions for what will happen in Vegas this Summer.
The biggest ever Main Event
I made this prediction last year and it was very close. The 2022 Main Event attracted just 109 players fewer than the 8,772 record from 2006.
The poker world thinks it will happen, the WSOP organisers think it will happen and GGPoker are guaranteeing they will send over 600 players via satellite this year.
I think the attendance record will be broken with ease in 2023, I'd set the line at 9,000 and take the under, but only just.
A fight
The Poker Twitter streets have been particularly unfriendly in the last year. I personally believe it is because poker players (mostly American poker players) are starting to value attention over everything else, but that's just me.
Either way, we live in a time when even the mild manner Phil Galfond has been calling people out on Twitter. There is so much bad blood right now and a lot of beefs.
One of two things will happen when you put all these people together for two months in Las Vegas. They'll either back down quickly and act like friends in real life, or we could actually see fisticuffs. If there are cameras there and my attention-seeking theory has legs, I would not be surprised if things turn nasty in Vegas.
Twitter Spaces explode (then fizzle out)
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I'm not a fan of the Twitter Space craze gripping poker. In fact, I am skeptical it is gripping poker at all. What is actually happening is a small in-group of Vegas-based pros really like it and there is an incorrect assumption the rest of the poker world cares.
The numbers for Twitter Spaces are low compared to most other AV platforms. Having said that, I think we will see them none stop during the series. Even during play at the tables.
2023 will be the year of the Twitter Space at the WSOP. After that I think the 'craze' will fizzle out quite quickly.
Lower numbers for the Mystery Bounty
I really am the worst marketer for my own work, despite my spammer image. Despite the fact that I have just released a book on Mystery Bounty tournaments, I expect lower numbers this year for the WSOP Mystery Millions.
I think the format exploded too quickly on the scene and has started to saturate already. The fact that it has not taken over online is one of my main yardsticks for this
The WSOP Mystery Millions got 14,112 entries last year and Matt Glantz pulled the million-dollar ticket. It will still get huge numbers, but I expect the final figures to be less than in 2022.
The Main Event gets named after Doyle Brunson
Several people smarter than myself put this suggestion forward before I did, so I am just piggybacking on that.
Doyle Brunson was, and always will be, the most famous poker player of all time. He also helped popularise No Limit as the WSOP Main Event format (and he won it twice).
The $50,000 Players Championship has the Chip Reece Trophy, I fully expect to see the WSOP Main Event in some way to honour Doyle Brunson in a similar way.
It could be a new trophy for the winner or simply naming the tournament the 'Doyle Brunson World Series of Poker Main Event', but I can't see how something like this doesn't happen.
What are your WSOP predictions? Let us know in the comments:
