From Vegas, our correspondent (I went to school with him), reports that more than 6,800 Main Event entries began their pursuit of first place cash totaling $8.71 million on July 12.

Worldwide, 75,672 entries in 58 different tournaments makes this year’s WSOP the biggest ever.

Sponsors are loving it.

It’s a new feature presented by this very cool online poker site.

What makes this new format unique is that players can use their buy-in options one at a time or simultaneously.

The program will make it impossible for someone to use two stacks to collude. If a player eventually has more entries than there are tables left, he or she will be forced to merge stacks. If a player makes a final table with two or more entries remaining, the stacks will be combined into one.

Full Tilt was smart enough to know that some players would be turned off by the multitabling aspect, so Tilt set it up so players can enter with a single entry.

When and if that player busts, he or she can reenter as long as late registration is available. While four buy-ins is currently the limit, Full Tilt officials have said the number could change if the new format proves popular with poker fans.

The inaugural Multi-Entry Tournament mentioned at the start of this story was a $1 buy-in event and had 5,000 entries including Red Pros Ross Boatman, Aaron Bartley, and Michael Craig.

“Storm667” was the eventual winner and took down the $990 first-place prize. Multi-Entry Tournaments are running now on Full Tilt and will be a part of February’s Full Tilt Online Poker Series.

I’ll be playing this weekend. Wish me luck.

Read more: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2011/01/inside-gaming-power-of-social-media-multi-entry-tournaments-9668.htm

With the new year brings the end of the reign of Jeffrey Pollack, commissioner of the World Series of Poker.

Pollack resigned in November 2009 and he will be missed.

For those who don’t know who Pollack is,  in 2005, he  was hired as the vice president of marketing for Harrah’s Casino.

He became commissioner of the WSOP in 2006.

And what a tenure it’s been. Under his command,  the WSOP total prize pool practically doubled from the previous 36 tournaments combined and saw an 88 percent growth.

He also established the Players Advisory Council, instituted the $50k H.O.R.S.E. Championship and the November Nine, and increased the scope of the WSOP brand to include the WSOP Europe.

He also made WSOP a household name, even amongst those who don’t play or follow poker.

His deal with ESPN is legendary.

In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun newspaper, he said, “It’s been a very good run and I’m proud of the growth that the tournament, and poker for that matter, have experienced. I came into this role with a certain set of objectives and now, there’s a sense of accomplishment of how the World Series of Poker has expanded.”

Like I said. He will be missed.

Have you played Omaha Hi Poker yet? It’s a cool variation of Texas Hold’Em, where players are dealt four hole cards instead of two. [The unique twist on the game is this...only two of those cards can be used for the final hand.]

Still,  I like the idea that there are nine cards; think of the possibilities that you might get a stronger hand in the end. That’s where I’m coming from.

That’s probably why all the online poker players and casino game players I know like the game. Sure, Texas Hold ‘EM gets all the publicity. ESPN, of course. But Omaha, as I’ve said above, offers the chance to get higher hands. And what does that mean?

Bigger pots.

More players staying in the game.

More excitement.

Bigger payouts.

And I’m all for that.

In future posts I plan to get into some strategies of the game, but for beginners, I suggest going to your favorite online casino or favorite brick and mortar casino (I live closer to Atlantic City than Vegas….so I go there. But I also love playing online).

If you like Texas Hold’Em, you’ll more than likely like Omaha Hi.

Check it out. You might like it more than you think.

Did you see the Final Table, World Series of Poker event on ESPN?

Pretty awesome stuff. Congratulations to Joe Cada, 21, who defeated Darvin Moon,  to become the youngest World Series of Poker Main Event champion in the tournament’s 40-year history.

Cada takes home $8,547,042 and the World Series of Poker Main Event world championship bracelet.

Joe Cada came into the final table with a decisive advantage over his opponent, however about an hour into the heads-up match, Moon’s aggressive play remedied his chip deficiency, even putting him in a commanding lead at one point with 149 million in chips to Cada’s 49 million.

“Well you got to take the man’s game away from him,” said Moon of his aggressive strategy.  “Use the man’s game and see where he goes.”

However all was not lost for the young poker pro from Shelby Township, MI.

A bit of light shone for Cada after a river gave him a straight and a hefty 20 million in chips.

Then, back in the driver’s seat, Cada never looked back.  The final hand saw the two remaining players all-in pre-flop with Cada’s pocket nines versus Moon’s Q-J suited.

The flop came 8c-2c-7s improving neither players’ hand, while a king on the turn and another 7 on the river ended Moon’s spectacular run and catapulted Joe Cada into poker superstardom.

While a lot has been said about Moon’s humility and indifference to the fame and fortune that comes with poker celebrity, he was adamant about his intentions on winning it all.

“Oh hell yeah, $3 million dollars, what do you mean what’s the difference?” replied Moon when asked if there was a big difference to him between first and second. “Am I sad about it? Am I depressed? Hell no.” For his second place finish, Moon earned $5,182,928.

A tearful Cada gave a nod to his opponent and addressed the crowd after WSOP commissioner, Jeffrey Pollack presented him with poker’s most coveted prize.

“I’ve dreamed of winning this tournament,” he said afterwards. “Aand to do it the first year out of the gate is unbelievable. This is just amazing.”