PokerStarsBlog Heads Home From the 2007 WSOP

Filed in archive Poker Blogs on July 27, 2007

Pokerstars sends more players to the World Series of Poker then any other internet site. Of course this year with the ambiguous Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, those numbers were supposed to be paired down due to Harrah's not allowing these sites to buy in directly to the events.

Record breaking preliminary event totals said otherwise, two No Limit Hold em' bracelet events approached or smashed the 3,000 player mark. As reported by various sites, the $10,000 Main Event didn't break a new attendance record, but the over 6,000 players running for the coveted world championship bracelet was not to be expected due to the difficulty of online players not being able to transfer over their $39 online satellite wins to the Rio for that Main Event seating coupon.

Brad "Otis" Willis was there for almost all of the 2007 WSOP covering the massive amount of players that PokerStars sent and included three players making the final table: Hevad Khan, Raymond Rahme, and runner-up Tuan Lam. Here's his wrap up post on Pokerstarsblog.com congratulating the winners and getting a well-deserved flight home to his wife and boy:

This has been a very long seven weeks on Las Vegas with too many stories to list here. We saw members of Team PokerStars make multiple final tables. We saw Supernovas win bracelets. We watched Team PokerStars' Katja Thater win her first World Series bracelet. Finally, we again witnessed how powerful a PokerStars field can be when it brings its online experience to the live felt. For a look back at the entire summer, be sure to visit our 2007 World Series coverage page.

I can't let this final post from the World Series go by without thanking the people who helped make this blog what it has been. Thanks to my co-bloggers Simon Young and Craig Cunningham for their excellent prose, friendship, and support over these past few weeks. I also cannot forget photographer Neil Stoddart and the entire staff of Image Masters for taking the photography on this blog to the next level. I owe many thanks to Matt, Chris, Susan, and Joan for everything from wrangling the players to a couple of key food deliveries that kept me going throughout the Series. Thank you to all the players who were good enough to put up with countless questions, photographs, and intrusions on your game as we sought to tell your story to the world. Finally, I thank you the readers for coming here by the thousands and offering kind comments along the way.

Now it's time at last to put the World Series to bed. It has been an adventure, but I owe my family seven weeks of life and a lot more.