Daniel Negreanu Argues Antes as WSOP High Rollers Put on The Clock

6 years ago
Daniel Negreanu Argues Antes as WSOP High Rollers Put on The Clock
09:48
29 Jan

For the first time in its history the World Series of Poker will introduce a shot clock for the high rollers, in a move which will also include a Big Blind ante - both measures intended to speed up the rate of play, with the distinct possibility of it becoming the norm for all tournaments in the future.

The groundbreaking move, by WSOP standards at least, was tweeted by poker information guru Kevin ‘Kevmath’ Mathers


…with the WSOP themselves confirming the change shortly afterwards, stating that it would cover all three of the massive buy-in tournaments on offer this coming summer…


Daniel Negreanu was one of the first to give his backing to the WSOP adopting the approach which has been tried in numerous events over the past year or so – notably the PartyPokerLIVE High Rollers as well as last month’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure


Although the shot clock – or ‘action timer’ – isn’t standardised yet, Chad Holloway wrote about the rules governing their use last year, explaining:

“Here's the five-step outline dealers of the event have been provided for easy reference.

  • Players will receive 30 seconds per decision throughout the event.
  • Dealers will make a silent count to 5 prior to starting the shot clock.
  • Once the clock reaches 15 seconds, the dealer will place the clock in front of the player.
  • Each player will receive 3 (60 second) time extension chips.
  • Time extension chips will be automatically put into play once the initial 30 second clock has expired.”



Big Blind ante

Somewhat more controversial is the introduction of the big blind paying all the antes per hand, another move designed to speed up play and make things much easier on the dealer – avoiding some of the arguments which have arisen over the years, most spectacularly the Jeff Lisandro/Prahlad Friedman bust-up which almost saw the big Aussie take the head off his younger colleague after being accused of cheating or lying or both!



Negreanu himself was starting to get all heated on Twitter in a discussion about whether or not the big blind paying all the antes was the best solution or not…


…a long and nuanced discussion occasionally breaking out into ‘cap locks’ shouting, and leading the main object of ‘Dnegs’ frustration – the Commerce Casino Tournament Co-ordinator Justin Hammer - to tweet jokingly…


In a sign of things to come, and regarded by most as a positive step, WPT’s Matt Savage shared the recent victor of their own ‘shot clock’ tournament at lower stakes than the $hundreds of thousands buy-ins which Negreanu and his ilk play at…


With the detailed WSOP schedule released, you have a chance yourself to try out the shot clock/ante combo, though it may take a year or two before it hits the levels most of us can afford.


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Andrew from Edinburgh, Scotland, is a professional journalist, international-titled chess master, and avid poker player.Read more

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