WSOP Has Been a Great Series, Says Jack Effel
In an interview with Card Player, Caesars Interactive Entertainment International Poker Operations Vice President and World Series of Poker (WSOP) Tournament Director Jack Effel said that WSOP 2013 has “been a calm series so far.” Effel has been the WSOP tournament director from 2007, and in 2013, he became one of the directors on the Tournament Directors Association Board.
Speaking about this year’s WSOP, Effel said that he had already made up his mind to resolve any issues that might arise upfront as he wanted to make it “the best experience possible for everyone.”
Regarding issues that had required his intervention and assistance, he said that there was an issue with the $1,500 HORSE tournament and that they had decided to reset the button in order to resolve the issue. He said that it was something correctable and made around 800 poker players very happy.
Speaking about yet another issue, he said that players were concerned about the dealers stacking the pot in split games. Although dealers are trained to stack the pot throughout a hand, players don’t like it as it is very distracting. Players prefer the pot to be stacked much later. Originally, the organizers had said that the pot will be stacked at showdown and it does not distract players and create confusion. Admitting that this solution slowed down the game a lot, he said that they finally decided to let the dealer begin stacking the pot on the last card. He also said that players were very happy with this solution.
Sharing his thoughts about the Millionaire Maker event, he said: “The Millionaire Maker and that day was probably the highlight so far in the first ten days. Just the number of players that were here, over 5,000 unique people participated in that event out of the 6,300.” Calling it the “craziest single day” they ever had in the very history of the WSOP, he said that the champion of the event Benny Chen was very happy with a grand prize of $1.2 million in his pocket.
Stating that they had started the WSOP on a good note, he said that they had been hard at work responding to player issues. Expressing satisfaction that WSOP participants are having a good time, he said that “when players are having a good experience, it makes us feel like we’re doing our job.”
The WSOP continuously requires supervision and maintenance as it is a beast of an event. Decisions need to be taken quickly and flames should be put off before they develop into raging fires. The job of a tournament director is to ensure that players are having a good experience. According to Effel, the WSOP this year has been a great series with plenty of “crazy live action,” a season that spreads excitement all over the Rio. He said that he is proud of everybody who has contributed to make the season a success and expressed his appreciation of the support extended by poker players who took part in the events.
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