WSOP to Stream 55 Bracelet Events Online
 

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) hosted its annual conference call Wednesday to announce the changes being made to the upcoming series in Las Vegas. On the call were WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky, WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel and WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart, who were eager to announce that the final table action of 55 gold bracelet events will be aired live via the Internet throughout the series, which kicks off on Tuesday, May 31.

The coverage, which will be on a five-minute delay due to gaming regulations, will be aired on WSOP.com and sponsored by Jack Link’s Beef Jerky. A wide overhead shot of the entire final table and its participants along with a flop camera will provide the visual sightlines, while audio from the event’s tournament announcer will describe the betting action as it occurs.

This marks the first time in the history of the WSOP that all 58 gold bracelet events will receive some sort of video coverage. ESPN3 will be streaming segments of the $25K Heads Up event, the $50K Poker Players Championship and the Main Event.

While the delayed coverage won’t provide any hole cards or live commentary, it will offer viewers a real-time experience much like on-site spectators would experience. Poker enthusiasts will be able to catch all of the biggest moments from the year’s most prestigious series that they may have missed in past years — one example being Tom “durrrr” Dwan’s run at a bracelet last year that created a huge buzz in the community.

“We are proud to provide video of the culminating action to a worldwide audience in real time,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. “This online initiative will complement our spectacular television package on ESPN and deliver even more of this year’s WSOP to fans who want the most immediate coverage possible.”

The WSOP announced Wednesday that it renewed its sponsorship agreements with Jack’s Links and Miller Brewing Company, and added a slew of new sponsors, including On Tilt, Blue Shark Optics, audio company Klipsch, and Dearform Slippers. Miller will shift its branding focus from Milwaukee’s Best to the more popular Miller Lite, and all players participating in the Main Event and Ladies Event will receive a pair of slippers as part of the Dearform sponsorship.

The conference call also brought news regarding changes to the Hall of Fame voting. The WSOP has implemented the “Chip Reese Rule,” which will prevent players under the age of 40 from reaching the Hall of Fame (Reese was the youngest inductee at the age of 40 in 1991). The voting process has also been modified; nominations will still be open to the public but a panel of industry experts will serve as a selection committee to help determine the finalists that will be handed to the current Hall of Famers for a final vote.

Changes have also been made to the WSOP Player of the Year structure. The point system, which was harshly criticized by many in the past, will be adjusted to be based on the number of players and size of the buy-in. The WSOP will unveil the new system before the series kicks off. The conference call panel also stated that each of the seven bracelet events at the WSOP Europe will count toward the Player of the Year race.

Among the several other changes made to the 2011 WSOP include automatic shufflers added to every final table, new phone charging stations and free wireless internet in the hallways of the Rio Convention Center, and more satellites for players to qualify for WSOP events starting as low as $75 on site. Qualifiers will also be available at the Caesars system of cardrooms across the country.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for continuous coverage of the World Series of Poker this summer.



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EPT Live will be broadcasting the European Poker Tour Grand Final, on PokerStars.TV and a number of international networks live with hole cards.

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European Poker Tour Madrid Q&A -- Eugene Yanayt
 

Eugene Kanayt is many things; a high stakes regular, a triple-draw hero, a computer science major, and a FIDE ranked chess master. Another title he can now add to that …

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Ground Zero
 

Good Thursday Morning to you all. Today's picture shows Robert Oppenheimer and Leslie Groves. Oppenheimer was one of the main physicists on the Manhattan Project, and Leslie Groves was the military man in charge. In the picture above, they have returned to ground zero after the successful test of the gadget.


The location of the test was the Trinity Sight in southern New Mexico. After the blast, the sand in the area was turned to glass. The glass ground had a greenish hue, and the little pieces of green glass were given a new name . . . Trinitite. The glass is still slightly radioactive to this day. While the material can no longer be picked up at the Trinity sight, it is collected and traded by rock hounds and mineral collectors.
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Brooklyn Bridge ::: Mark Keelan
 

http://www.photoburst.net/photo_sect...ark-keelan.jpgBrooklyn Bridge ::: Mark Keelan ::: Late afternoon walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

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Chinese Opera Singers
 

A group of traveling Chinese Opera singers came to town. They set up a temporary theatre under a bridge with bamboo sticks. They slept under the stage and put on their makeup and costume in a tiny area behind the stage. This group performs all over China, traveling from town to town, staying perhaps a week in each place. Providing traditional entertainment that would otherwise be lost to television and the Internet. (This photo and caption were submitted to My Shot.)

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A Star-Formation Laboratory
 

The dwarf galaxy NGC 4214 is ablaze with young stars and gas clouds. Located around 10 million light-years away in the constellation of Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs), the galaxy's close proximity, combined with the wide variety of evolutionary stages among the stars, make it an ideal laboratory to research the triggers of star formation and evolution. This color image was taken using the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 in December 2009. Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

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Security forces target Bahrain medics
 

Part two of our exclusive report on Bahrain looks at the abuse of medical workers as part of the government's crackdown.

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The Future of Tiger Woods
 

From the LA Times:

Will Tiger Woods ever be the same?

For years he dominated golf in such a way that most players figured they were continually playing for second place. Now after Thursday's development at the Players Championship in Pontre Vedra Beach, Fla., the question becomes even louder: Will the new Tiger Woods ever become the old Tiger Woods again?

Woods, after shooting a six-over-par 42 on the front nine of his opening round, withdrew from the tournament because of a lingering knee injury that has become such an issue since his dramatic win in the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines that questions of his return to the top can't be brushed aside.

Woods told reporters after he made the decision, "The knee acted up and then the Achilles followed after that and then the calf started cramping up. Everything started getting tight, so it's just a whole chain reaction."

Woods has not won a major championship since the Open at Torrey Pines in 2008 and has not won a tour event since September 2009. He has played in five PGA Tour events this year, but not since finishing tied for fourth at the Masters.

Woods didn't indicate Thursday when he might play again, saying he'd have to confer with his doctors, but this development certainly doesn't bode well for his chances to play at the second major of the year, the U.S. Open at Congressional just outside Washington, D.C., June 16-19. That's a course -- compounded by always-challenging Open conditions -- that will not be kind to any player who hasn't gotten his game in shape beforehand.

Read more here.

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Julius
 

Location: San Diego, California, USA

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My cat gave birth to six kittens, but she sadly passed away the next day. I raised all six kittens, and gave them to loving homes, but kept Julius for myself. Because she was raised by me, Jules is my little buddy, and she follows me around the house all day and cries when I am gone. Thankfully, I kept one of her brothers too, so they have each other for company. Jules loves to have her belly rubbed, to lay in the sun and to chase lizards. I am so glad she is my friend.



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