Last group of players begin World Series of Poker main event, but over 500 turned away

WSOP main event turns away over 500 angry players

LAS VEGAS — The World Series of Poker faced hundreds of angry players on Monday after they were turned away from the no-limit Texas Hold ‘em main event because of capacity on the tournament’s final starting day.

“We are sorry, and I am sorry,” said Jeffrey Pollack, World Series of Poker commissioner. “The last thing that we ever want to do is deny people entry into our events.”

Among the more than 500 players rejected were some big-name professional poker players, including Patrik Antonius, five-time gold bracelet winner Ted Forrest and six-time gold bracelet winner T.J. Cloutier.

Hundreds of hopefuls waited in the hallways at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to see if they could get into the tournament, which had plenty of seats available during its first three opening days. Roughly 2,700 players entered the tournament on Monday.

Officials expected to release the total prize pool and top prize later in the day. About 10 percent of roughly 6,400 players will earn money in the tournament.

Had the rejected players been accommodated, the tournament likely would have eclipsed its total entries from last year, when Peter Eastgate won $9.15 million for beating 6,843 others in the $10,000 buy-in tournament.

Tournament officials warned on Sunday that they expected the event to sell out on Monday, but many players complained anyway that their trips — and chances to win millions of dollars — had been ruined.

“Doyle Brunson always said the saddest day of the year is getting knocked out of the main event of the world series,” said Tyler Meierotto, a 39-year-old jeweler from Kansas City, Mo. “The saddest day of the year for me is not being able to play in the main event of the world series.”

“You look so forward to it as a player and for them to say that you can’t play is just awful,” he said.

Tournament officials considered several options to accommodate more players but ultimately decided that no solution would have been fair to everyone playing in the tournament and those who were rejected.

“We’re disappointed about this,” said Pollack, who vowed that the issue would be his top priority heading into next year’s World Series of Poker. “I wish that we could accommodate you, but we can’t.”

Matt Clark, a spokesman for online poker site PokerStars, said employees of the site knocked on hotel room doors and left notes, sent e-mails and called players on Sunday to urge them to enter the tournament early.

The site paid entry fees for roughly 1,100 players in the tournament, including satellite tournament winners, professional poker players and celebrities. Clark said five of its players were rejected on Monday.

“We pretty much did everything we could to make sure people were bought in,” Clark said.