WSOP Report No 1

By Dave Welch & 'Smokin' Steve Vladar

WORLD SERIES OF POKER - TEN TO FOLLOW

The $10,000 no limit hold-em event at the World Series Of Poker is the final and most prestigious event of the Series. It is held every year at this time at Binion's Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas. The tournament lasts five days and is considered to be the greatest test of a poker player's skills.

Players from all around the world will once again be making the trek to Las Vegas for this event. Last year a record 610 players entered the tournament and this year it is expected that there will be in excess of this number. The winner of the event will pick up an estimated $1,500,000 and approximately 45 players will get "in the money".

Having looked at the probable field, we have come up with ten players to follow who we think will give you a good run for your money:

Eric Seidel 80-1
Eric is one of the top poker players in the world. Before taking to poker, Eric was a top backgammon player and an astute financial trader. His form is good, having reached two final tables already in this World Series. Eric possesses the right combination of patience and aggression to win this marathon event.

Ben Roberts 80-1
Ben is renowned in Europe as a top class, high stakes, live action player. His tournament appearances have been somewhat limited, mainly because the prize money for tournaments on the European Tour cannot match his earnings through live action. However, when Ben has played in major no-limit events, his record is impressive. His best performance in this tournament was 6th place in 1998. He is one of Europe's leading hopes.

Chris Bjorin 100-1
Swedish born, Chris is very well known on both sides of the Atlantic. He has an excellent record in the World Series and has made the money in this event on seven occasions. A very solid player, he will not be giving up his chips without a fight.

John Juanda 100-1
A no-limit tournament specialist, who commands great respect from his peers on the American circuit. John was close to becoming the American Player Of The Year in 2001. He has the poker skills to beat anyone at this form of the game.

Ram Vaswani 100-1
Ram is known as "crazy horse" but in fact is one of the most solid players on the European circuit. He plays the large stack particularly well and has a very cool temperament. He is in great form, having already cashed $98,000 from a third place finish in an earlier event. If he gets chips early, Ram will not be far away.

"Miami" John Cernuto 115-1
Although not renowned as a no-limit specialist, Miami John is possibly the best all-round tournament poker player in the world. He has an outstanding record at the World Series with numerous final table appearances including a no-limit event bracelet. He is currently in good form, having made the money already in events this year.

Layne Flack 120-1
Layne is one of the younger breed of up and coming American players. He already has a reputation for being aggressive and fearless and uses these attributes to the full. If he manages to get chips early then watch out - they will not be sitting still.

Randy Holland 130-1
Randy used to play on the European Tour and is renowned for his fighting qualities and good table manners. He won a bracelet in 2000 and has finished in the money in this event. He is underrated and very capable.

Kathy Liebert 145-1
Kathy is one of a few lady players in the world who can hold her own in this type of event. She held the chip lead in this even at the end of the second day last year. Kathy has been in good form recently, including winning a $1,000,000 limit hold-em event held on a cruise ship. She has already been in the money this year and is more than capable of becoming the first lady to win this event.

Simon "Aces" Trumper 155-1
Simon is one of the great characters of the European poker scene. His game is inclined to vary from the bizarre to the brilliant. However, he is capable of playing to the very highest level for long periods of time - this was highlighted in his EWSOP Trial win in 2001. Simon can play all stack sizes and is an extremely good reader of the game.

With over 600 runners expected, luck and skill will play their part in what is the event of the year. Picking the winner is not an easy task. We hope that our guide will give you some insight into current form and natural ability as well as experience and determination to win.

Best of luck.

Dave & Steve

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Dave Welch was alongside Pascal Perrault of Paris and Julian Gardner of Manchester in being the most successful tournament poker players in the emerging years of the European Circuit.

He finished 4th, 2nd and 1st respectively in 1998, 1999 and 2000. He has always been regarded as being a popular ambassador for the sport and knows nearly everyone on the poker scene.

'Smokin' Steve Vladar has been Dave's best friend for 20 years. They started playing poker together and although Steve couldn't match Dave's early record on the circuit, he is now recognised as one of the top players in Europe.

He is currently in the top 5 in the European rankings and well known as a great analyser of both the game itself and his opponents.

Dave is one of the very few players to have been invited for every series of Channel Four's Late Night Poker and it is a measure of his reputation that despite not playing many tournaments on the tour over the past year, he is still quoted in the betting for all major poker events.

Over the next few months Dave and Steve will write articles that they feel will be of interest to both novice players and budding students of the game as well as point out the players that they feel are of particular value in the betting markets for all pokers major events.

This week Dave will analyse the biggest poker event of all - the $10,000 buy-in No Limit Hold Em World Series Of Poker Championship Event from Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas (May 20th -25th).