Poker players speak up after the WSOP announces it will give away 85 bracelets in its upcoming series
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is returning online with another massive online series since the coronavirus pandemic hasn't allowed live poker games to restart. While there is one series currently running for players in Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey, WSOP announced yesterday another online series coming next month. This 85-golden-bracelet series has generated some mixed reactions across the poker community, especially among professional poker players. Several players shared their opinion on whether this action would devalue the prestige of a WSOP bracelet.
The conversation was started by Brandon Shack-Harris, who has won a golden bracelet two times in his career and who is also an expert in mixed games. He posted a tweet Monday afternoon in which he questioned if this was the best move for the largest live poker tournament brand in the world. "If there is a chance that WSOP has planned on only posting live events until later in the year as was brought up earlier, then it feels like having this online series for a bracelet is double-dipping to compensate for income lost due to shutdowns only at the expense of their brand," said part of his post. He added that he might be hesitant in attending WSOP events if the brand doesn't care better for its image and value.
Some players agreed with him some didn't. For instance, Randy Ohel stated that it wasn't even considered a WSOP event with only flop games. He is referring to the fact that there are no seven-card stud or draw tournaments and several other players agreed with that. On the other hand, other players consider this to be an overreaction as WSOP has been handing online bracelets for years, "Now are all of those not official in your eyes? You think those wins deserve asterisks? I just don’t understand this view that bracelets won online are not equivalent to ones won in live competition. Can you explain please?" said one of the replies.
