One of the busiest poker-related Twitter accounts is that of the Venetian Poker Room. Today marked the transition from winding up the latest iteration of the DeepStack Extravaganza (DSE) and switching seamlessly to the DeepStack Championship Series (DSCS).
The DSCS runs September 27 through November 28, thereby beginning before and ending after the 52nd annual WSOP. The first event is a $400 buy-in no-limit hold'em event:
"Registration is open for today's DeepStack Championship Event #01 $400 NLH MonsterStack $25,000 guarantee (1Day) poker tournament."
The last several DeepStack series at the Venetian have run back-to-back, with literally no rest days between them. Poker.org asked Venetian poker tournament director Tommy LaRosa if this was likely to continue. He provided this response via Elaine Chaivarlis (Manager, Public Relations),
"We pride ourselves in listening to feedback from our players. What we’ve heard is that there is a desire for more tournaments. Running back-to-back tournament series is a testament to the tremendous support we’ve seen from our players. We will continue to provide our players with as many options as possible as we deliver the great poker experience they’ve come to expect."
Apparently poker players are guaranteed a DeepStack Venetian tournament whenever they find themselves in Las Vegas.
One key feature of the DeepStack trifecta (the third is the DeepStack Showdown Series) is the embedding of a branded series within them. The just-concluded DSE included a Mid-Stakes Poker Tour (MSPT) multi-day affair won by Cole Keenan, who converted the $1,100 entry fee into a $123,722 first prize. Anecdotally it is the large top prizes that provide the allure to many players.
Over the next two months, the DSCS includes two MSPT events (October 12-19 and October 18-27), as well as a Card Player Poker Tour tournament (November 11-14).
Impact on the WSOP
With other major Las Vegas poker rooms also offering series during the WSOP, how will the WSOP be impacted?
It should be noted that competition to the WSOP has been commonplace over recent years. However, there are two flies in the 2021 ointment.
First, the COVID vaccination requirement for WSOP participants has not been met with universal approval. When the measures were first announced, many players indicated they regarded the requirement as an infringement on their personal freedoms, and would play elsewhere as a result.
Ironically, if such a boycott does occur, it may relieve WSOP's other major problem: a widely-reported shortage of dealers. The unthinkable scenario for WSOP and parent company Caesars is disruption to events because they simply cannot get enough warm bodies in the dealer box. Whether they manage to hit a workable equilibrium thanks to a drop in player participation remains to be seen.
Featured image source: Twitter
