From its humble origins in a smoky Las Vegas on line casino within the Seventies, the World Sequence of Poker has grow to be one in every of playing’s largest points of interest. The chance to compete for a gold bracelet is on each critical poker participant’s bucket checklist, as is an opportunity to sit down down with a number of the sport’s largest stars.
These stars have been created within the early 2000s, when poker exploded into the mainstream. Televised protection of the WSOP discovered its technique to ESPN, the place narration and storytelling centered on characters and personalities. Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Chris Moneymaker, amongst many others, discovered stardom shortly.
On the similar time, the opening card digicam gave followers entry to the sport like by no means earlier than, permitting them to observe from the angle of their favourite gamers. What would Gus Hansen do going through an all-in on the river? Viewers may watch and observe together with the drama, dwelling vicariously by way of the very best within the sport.
Now, as gamers make their technique to Las Vegas for the 2025 WSOP, the subsequent evolution of poker storytelling is right here.
After a long time of the WSOP proscribing video protection contained in the event ropes throughout play—as a consequence of considerations over collusion or potential gaming regulatory infractions—event organizers have lastly embraced social media and the real-time fan engagement it creates for these following from dwelling. Anybody with a telephone contained in the event space now has the flexibility to supply content material and create moments that will have by no means been seen earlier than.
Prior to now, large happenings have been blogged on-line, learn solely by hardcore poker followers, and principally forgotten. However media shops at the moment are permitted to shoot key arms and dramatic moments with their telephones and push them out by way of social media platforms immediately. Dozens of all-in bets, unhealthy beats and disagreements on the desk are posted on-line day-after-day. Content material that poker followers are hungry for is true at their fingertips for the subsequent seven weeks.
A few of these movies are even going viral and reaching informal poker followers—and potential new poker gamers—who could uncover pleasure round poker for the primary time.
It’s a brand new frontier for the World Sequence of Poker. New personalities are being born day-after-day. And the tales popping out of those occasions are solely rising the sport extra quickly. I’m excited to see what the sequence brings.
The 56th version of the World Sequence of Poker options 100 gold bracelet occasions on the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas on the Strip. The sequence runs by way of July 16.
