World Series of Poker players get day to rest; officials announce circuit tour for bracelet

World Series of Poker players get day to rest

LAS VEGAS — Players at the World Series of Poker main got a day off in the no-limit Texas Hold ‘em tournament on Sunday as series officials revealed plans for a circuit tour with a national championship worth a gold bracelet.

Series officials said the revamped World Series of Poker Circuit tour will culminate with a championship tournament at the Caesars Palace casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

The circuit is separate from the annual series in Las Vegas, which included 57 poker tournaments for bracelets this year. The tour’s championship will be held ahead of next year’s series.

The national championship will be an invitational with no buy-in, with winners competing for some piece of a $1 million prize pool. Players will qualify through cumulative rankings or by winning certain circuit tournaments.

The tour will have at least 12 stops and four regional championships.

On Monday, all players remaining in the main event will play at the same time for the first time in the tournament. The field of 7,319 players that started the tournament were spread over four starting days, with the second session split between two days.

Dan Harrington, the 1995 main event champion who placed third in the tournament in 2003 and fourth in 2004, said having the day off to rest is important. He said he planned to go to the gym and possibly out to dinner with friends.

“In the past, you just played right through,” Harrington said.

The 64-year-old Harrington said he was so tired during long stretches at previous main events that he predicted nobody over age 40 would be able to win.

He said during his 2003 final table, he was so tired he couldn’t count his chips properly and runner-up Sammy Farha was asleep at the table.

“You’ve got to play for an awful lot of money,” Harrington said. “I was so tired I couldn’t do the math involved.”

Series officials changed the schedule this year to decrease the number of hours played each day.

Among the chip leaders as players began their third session were poker professionals Johnny Chan, Patrik Antonius, Cole South and Dragan Galic.