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.

At the 2009 WSOP a one-off $40,000 tournament started the longest running poker festival in the world to celebrate the series’ 40^th anniversary. That particular event attracted 201 players and was eventually won by Vitaly Lunkin of Russia who netted $1,989,120.

This year Harrah’s, owner of the World Series of Poker, have introduced the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship which will see some of poker’s elite battle it out over eight different poker variants. The games to be played are fixed-limit Hold’em, fixed-limit Omaha hi/lo split, Razz, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud hi/lo split, no-limit Hold’em, pot-limit Omaha and 2-7 Triple Draw. Games will rotate every eight hands although the final table will be solely no-limit Hold’em.

Harrah’s have decided to use this tournament to replace the $50,000 HORSE event which attracted only 95 entries last year, down from 148 in 2008. Much of the blame for the reduced figures must go down to the decision to not air the final table on ESPN so many of the player’s sponsors refused to buy their players into the tournament. This mistake will not be repeated in 2010 as the final table of the $50,000 event will be broadcast by ESPN who have the rights to the WSOP for the next couple of years. Tournament poker videos of the event should also be available.

Another new tournament that is sure to draw in the crowds, especially the internet tournament specialists, is Event #52 – the $25,000 6-max no-limit Hold’em tournament. Each of the players will start with 75,000 chips and play to blind intervals starting at 150/300/25, increase every hour. The short-handed format should generate a lot of action and the coverage of the event should boost ESPN’s viewing figures as thousands will tune in to see some super-aggressive poker.