The changes, as always, have been met with a mix of praise and criticism, especially the new registration rules. Many players like to turn up to their event late, Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth the eleven-time bracelet winner is famous for this, but it appears he will have to be in his seat on time for the upcoming series.

A new rule states that any player who is not in their seat and has not been dealt a hand by the start of the third blind level will have their chips removed and be counted as a no-show. Their buy-in will also be removed from the prize pool and given back to them.

This rule in particular has drawn much criticism as many players believe it is open to abuse. A poster on a popular poker forum said that a savvy player may register for an event, keep an eye on his or her table and, if it looked too tough, not take their seat, essentially unregistering from the tournament.

One change that shows the popularity of social networking sites is the rule allowing players to send text, emails and use Twitter while at the table. As in previous years all mobile phones need to be switched off at the table but now players who have put their cards into the muck are free to use their devices until they receive a new hand. Chip counts and important hand recollections were common themes during the 2009 World Series of Poker, with fans tuning in to the like of Doyle Brunson and Daniel Negreanu’s pages for progress updates.

Perhaps the biggest change for the 2010 WSOP is the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E event being scrapped and replaced with the $50,000 Player’s Championship. Entries to the H.O.R.S.E event plummeted last year from 148 to just 95, mainly due to the event’s final table not being televised, so the tournament directors have decided to mix things up. After all, WSOP poker videos are now big business and what player doesn’t want to bask in the limelight?

Instead of H.O.R.S.E the players will engage in 8-game, which will see them play a mix of 2-7 Triple Draw, Limit Hold’em, Omaha Hi/Low, Razz, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi/Low, No-limit Hold’em and Pot-limit Omaha. The winner will still receive the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy, which used to be awarded to the winner of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E event.

Event 54 wrapped up late Wednesday Night as Tony Veckey bested a field of 2818 players to win the $673,276 first place prize.  These $1,500 tournaments have become huge moneymakers for the eventual winners and you can expect that the management may have to consider extending them into 4 day tourneys and make sure that they are always the early starting events.   After 11 hours of play, Veckey proved to be the master as he bested Jason Wheeler for one of the last bracelets of the season.

Matt Hawrilenko has the privilege of being the last person to win a bracelet before the Main Event.  He takes down an astonishing $1,003,218 by winning Event 56, the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em 6 Handed Event.  These events are always great to watch because of how fast the action moves.  When you get an elimination from one of these tables, it really picks up.  Compated to some of the other tournaments, this final table was fairly quick as the last session only lasted until just before midnight.

The heads-up action was far less than we witnessed earlier in the week with the $50k H.O.R.S.E Event as it took a mere four hands to get this thing settled.  Josh Brikis made it 300,000 from the SB and Hawrilenko took little time in making a 7 digit bet.  Brikis called all-in and Matt could not get his chips in quick enough.  He had Brikis dominated, but there were plenty of reasons to be scared as his JJ faced off against A9d for the million dollar first place prize.  The board ran out as 2h8c8d and when the 3s hit the turn the only card that could help Brikis was one of the three remaining Aces.  A 10c showed up instead and that Hawrilenko put on the jewelry for the first time in his life.

The marathon of the Main Event kicks off on Friday and we are sure to see some fast and furious action.  The pros are going to have targets on their heads at every table that they are seated at.  Patience is the key in a monster like this as you need to find a way to survive.  Normal card playing techniques go out the door as you have to keep the prize in your sights.  It should be a fun 2 weeks as we work our way down to the Final 9 that we will see later in the year battle for the most coveted title in the world of poker.

In other tournaments…

While the talk of the day was the $50k H.O.R.S.E. tournament, once could not overlook the bracelet that was won by Abe Mosseri in the Triple Chance No Limit Hold’em Event.  Once the event went to heads-up, he used timely aggression again and again on Masayoshi Tanaka and continued to grind away at his stack.  By the time the last hand was dealt, Tanaka had the equivalent of a bb gun in the middle if Iraq.  He can console himself with the $102,313 he takes home for second place.  Abe fattens his bank account with a healthy $166,151.

There will be one more bracelet awarded tonight in Event 54.  This one will go until late (or early depending upon how you look at it) in the morning as there are still 6 players holding onto chips and each and every one of them has over 1,000,000.  Sergey Konkin holds the chip lead with 3,500,000.

The last event that is going on is Event 56.  Lots of action in this one as it is a 6 handed tournament.  A fat $1,003,218 first place prize awaits the winner and the way it looks now, we just may have a big name pro sneak through and snatch one.  David Chiu, Shaun Deeb and Phil Hellmuth are all still alive.  The overall chip leader is Matthew Waxman with 1,150,000 in chips.

The Triple Chance NL Hold’em Tourney also has 6 players remaining and Jorg Peisert has built a monster chip lead. He is currently holding 3,065,000 and is nearly 3:1 over second place. A lead like that is going to be very difficult to overcome unless the second or third place players catch him on an all in. He is playing very aggressively and that could happen, but it appears as though he is timing his aggression perfectly right now. This one should be fun to watch down to the end.

While there are only 2 players left in Event 53, we are still a long way from figuring out who is going to win this one. The chips are fairly even as William Kohler has 1,290,000 and David Halpern has 810,000. When you add in the fact that this is a hi/low game, they may be here longer than either of the other two tournaments.

Event 54 has about 40 players and with any luck, they will make it down to the final table tonight. That is probably wishful thinking, but you never know. Event 55 is also trucking along and has less than 40 players remaining. Triple draw can have some large pots, so you may still see a lot of railing going on. The one thing that could slow this down is the fact that they are very close to the bubble.

Erik Sagstrom – 3,675,000
Vitaly Lunkin – 2,490,000
David Bach – 2,345,000
John Hanson – 1,700,000
Huck Seed – 1,380,000
Chau Giang – 1,075,000
Erik Seidel – 965,000
Ville Wahlbeck – 645,000

Lunkin has been having a marvelous WSOP and you would have to think that he will continue to remain among the leaders of this tournament. He is a pretty well rounded player and has shown little weakness this year. Sagstrom is an interesting player and his name has been popping up quite a bit this year. This will be his first cash in a WSOP Event and it will be interesting to see if he can hold up to the pressure. We also have a few specialty players in here who excel at one or two of the variations. Don’t be fooled by the big chip lead, this is still anyone’s tournament.

In other tournaments…

The Triple Chance Tournament heads into day 3 with 16 players fighting it out for the bracelet. This is the second of 3 bracelet tournaments that we are going to see on Tuesday. Early on it appeared that this tournament was going to be dominated by some of the pro’s, but they have fallen by the wayside in day 2 and it is pretty much an unknown field that is left alive. An Tran is the only bracelet winner left and Eric Lynch is the only other player of note. The current leader is Jason DeWitt with 1,599,000.

The third bracelet will be given out in the Seven Card Stud Hi Low 8 or Better Event. They are down to 14 players and for once, Jeff Lisandro nowhere to be seen on a 7 Stud final table. Lots of fresh meat in this tourney and it would appear as though we will get a first time winner here. Brian Swinford will start the day off as the chip leader with 292,000.

Events 54 and 55 finished off their days way short of where they needed to be to get to a final table by the end of day 2. Event 54 started with 2818 and still has almost 400 players sitting down when they start the next session. Event 55 did not do any better as they started the day with 258 players and now have 75 left. Lots of big names hit the rail early in this one including Todd Brunson, Greg Raymer, Erick Lindgren and Barry Greenstein. These guys have to be wearing down as you see their names in almost every tournament at the start. Main Event kicks off in 3 days!

While Mueller was at the top of the leader board throughout this tournament, the heads up battle was anything but easy. Marc Naalden gave him everything he could handle and actually looked as though he was going to win this at one point. The cards ended up changing and Mueller was able to take down the event. Naalden won $120,614 for second place.

In other tournaments…

The $50 K H.O.R.S.E. Event continues on and they are now down to 19 players and should be playing down to a champion on Monday. Vitaly Lunkin continues to impress with his play and while he was not able to dramatically increase his overall chip lead, he is still in first place with 1,527,000. Freddy Deeb is having a wonderful tournament and you can expect to continue to see him among the leaders. The one notable downfall has been Gus Hansen. At one time, he was way ahead of the field, but he has since come back to reality and now only has 801,000 in chips.

Event 51 players have already played to the max time for the last two days and will be back early on Monday to try and finish this event. We knew they were in trouble with a low elimination number in day one and with 30 players left, they will have to come back at 1pm to play down to a winner. Thibaut Durand has taken over the lead and has 1,650,000 in his stack.

The Triple Chance Tournament has been a lot of fun to watch and has some interesting names at the top of the leader board. Of course, Jeff Lisandro is making his customary appearance, but Antonio Esfandiari is finally being heard from and sits in the top 5. John Juanda is also still kicking in this one, but his stack is screaming for help with only 42,600 in chips.

Event 53 is well under way and has only 143 players left in the field of 467. Allie Prescot is the current chip leader with 52,500, but there is still some high powered talent close behind. Most notably, Annie Duke is sitting in 6th place with 36,600 and Daniel Negreanu rounds out the top 10 with 33,100 in chips.