I am flying out to Vegas for the week of the O8 variant WSOP events. In particular Event 48, $1500 PLO8.

Last year I saw it had ~950 runners. Should I expect similar this year? Not sure if the Tuesday start is same as last year. Similarly, I expect E54, $3k PLO8, to have fewer participants what with the One Drop event that weekend and the Monster Stack event from the prior day.

Is there anything in particular I should expect different in these events?

(Meanwhile, I'm trying to focus all my efforts on my PLO8 game on Bovada, as this is my only option for now.)

There are a few reports out there of US-based pros playing on euro sites from the continental US. Obviously this is frowned upon but many seem to do it anyway and without consequence. I doubt Bovada is providing you with anything like the field size or skill levels required to properly prepare for a WSOP event (which bizarrely is held in the same country that doesn't allow Pokerstars or Full Tilt).

what is the skill level in these? any experiences, stories?

It should get 900-1k runners.

It's fairly soft. Chances are you will have at least a couple fish at your table.
There is an often an older, nicely dressed gentleman, who doesn't appear to be from the US who will gladly donate to someone... sometimes an older lady who looks like she could be his wife... a young dude who will push chips at any opportunity... and a middle aged dude who figures since he wins at his home game, he can win WSOP.

One year, I had Lee Watkinson to my right for much of the first day... really nice guy... he had finished 2nd in PLO the year before. The final few hours of the first day, had Brandon Cantu at my table... rather brash, but good player... he had won the PLO the year before. Last year, Josh Pollock was to my right for the first half of the first day... he had just won the PLO. So it's not all fish either.

Last year, after my table broke near dinner break, my new table was wild: lot of young guys and a crazy Brazilian with a huge stack. These guys were GII at any opportunity... and betting a c-note or two on which of two hands had better equity, then looking it up on PPT or w/e (it may have started when I lost AIPF w/ AKKQds to A228ds... the latter being a slight favorite).

Any serious poker player should experience WSOP at least once.

AINTD,

that's an excellent response (and consistent with what I have heard as rumor). I have heard many stories about players in the PLO and PLO8 events having no idea how to play Omaha -- failure to understand the "must play two cards in hand" concept, etc. Here's hoping I can take advantage of that while also having a few "sat with TV pro X for a few hands" stories to go with it.

Thank you.

Most of the famous pros are horrible at omaha8, A good comparison is probably like the daily 33s on stars, and even those might be harder than a 1500 wsop

Never been to the WSOP before, but I would expect the #s to be slightly inflated this year due to the FullTiltPoker remissions.

Last year, there was a drop-off from two years ago due to people not having access to their funds. I'd expect something like a 10% increase from last year for this reason alone. Also, WSOP.com offers online satellites, so that'll represent a 1% increase too.

I would expect numbers for nlhe games to increase, including a Main Event with well over 7,000 runners. But would the remissions really bump the O8 games that much? Though even a 10% increase would only be another 90 players or so, which is somewhat trivial (~9 extra spots paid in this scenario).

taking a looksie at the structure sheet...it notes players begin with 4500 chips. There is no mention of the usual 3 bullets @ 1500 each to start. Any word if that has officially changed?

They announced that it has changed. No lammers/add-ons now.

Personally I did think triple chance was too much and hoped they'd make it one lammer/double chance.

No lammers? Interesting. 3 weeks ago that was still on the structure sheet.

I prefer it this way though.

Change those numbers around and you might be close. The amount of new people that got money back from ftp that would allow them to go to Vegas is tiny, many guys who got big chunks are current professionals and any other type of guy is just going to put it in the bank.

Good point. I guess FTP remissions will have a negligible effect on the turnout.

I think the biggest factor will be how much a casual O8 player's disposable income is. The US economy has been improving over the past year, so I'd expect an increase in disposable income for that reason. Plus, the $1500 buyin is not inflation adjusted, so you'd expect more players comfortable putting up this amount, as it will represent a smaller % of their disposable over time.

Looking at last year's PLO8 events, they are slightly different from this year's schedule. They started with the more expensive $5k event first and had it on a Thursday (June 13-15). The more affordable $1500 ran on the following Monday (June 17-19). There's a one day gap (June 16) between the two tournaments.

This year, they removed the one-day gap between the two tournaments, meaning players who want to book a vacation can plan a six day trip without having to book an extra night at a hotel during the break day between tournaments.

More importantly, the cheaper event is first (which allows players with a 3k bankroll to play the 1500 first and if they cash, then play the 3k). If the 3k was first (and pays fewer % of players than the 1500), they'd just spend the 3k and only play the 1500 if they cashed.

I would expect this to attract more regs who grind online. I am definitely intrigued by the schedule to book a week-long Vegas trip!

After looking at it in detail, I'd set a line at 1025 runners (last year's was 936) in the $1500 and 370 runners in the $3k (last year's $5k got 241).

For people who have played on estimate would you say the money bubble bursts pretty much close to the end of day one (10 levels)? I am glad to see this thread as I didn't realize it changed to have everyone start with 4500 chips. This will be my first time playing so just trying to get a game plan with the structure.

Based on past results, I expect the bubble will be early on in day 2...thinking like level 12

sorry for the double post.. used the wrong thread before..
how many players are expected to play the 3.5k plo8?

I do not see a $3.5k PLO8 on the schedule. The $3k PLO8 (Event 54 this year) got 435 runners last year so maybe we see a boost to 475 this year (~10% increase)?

meant e54..sorry.. 450 would be pretty good..

does someone know if there is a big difference of the avg skill level in both events? 1.5k sounds pretty soft

Two Qs:

1. How long does it take the dealer to calculate the payouts in multi-way pots where, say, 3 players have nut low, 2 players tie for high and 1 player ties for both high and low?

2. How easy is it to make a mistake when betting the pot, or more precisely, how difficult is it to keep track of what the max bet can be during play if a CPU isn't doing all the work for you?

1. Clearly this is dealer dependent and we will experience both good and bad dealers at any WSOP event. Should not take too long to split the pot though if they have any level of experience at high-low games. Though, compared to online, yeah, there's going to be a lag time.

2. In my experience playing live PLO and PLO8, the dealers are really good at knowing the size of the pot. If you lose count just ask "what's in the pot?" when contemplating a bet.

If I am reading this right in the tournament you can ask the dealer for a pot count at any time or can they only spread the chips and you have to count them? Specifically talking about the PLO8 $1500 event....I know I should (and hopefully will) be keeping pretty close tabs, but I may brain fart and forget in a tough spot. Thanks

It's at the dealer's discretion, and he/she is not required to do one way or another. Some dealers will count the pot for you, others won't.

I'm also wandering about the difference in skill level and field size in the $3ks. Anyone with more experience? I'll be playing the $1.5k Plo8, and probably the $3k FLO8, but not sure about the $3k Plo8 yet.