Posted by Johnnymac 12:03 PM
With my chances of getting onto an earlier flight this afternoon going nowhere (who would have thought that flights to Vegas the day before the WSOP would be full? Gee.), I'm passing my day off from work with S&G's and web surfing until my flight leaves at 6:30.

So I was looking for information about some of the hospitality freebies I've heard so much about - hats and shirts and the like, which led me to a post on the PokerStars blog, the "WSOP Primer." There's some good stuff in there, for sure, like where the restrooms are, where the food is, how the satellites work, etc etc, but one thing that really blows me away is as much as it is a primer it is on the WSOP itself:

Q. What is the procedure for calling the clock?

A. Calling the clock (a fair but rarely-used method of hurrying up an opponent's decision) is done simply by asking the dealer to put the clock on the opponent. The dealer will call for the floor person who will give your opponent a pre-designated amount of time to make the decision..

...It's also a primer on simply how to play casino poker:

Q. How should I handle my cards?

A. Don't pick your cards up off the table. Use one hand to cover them, and peek at the corners. Cover your cards with a chip or other tchotchke (you'll probably get one in the goody bag that all our qualifiers get). If you don't cap your cards, they may be "fouled" by other players' folded cards or picked up by the dealer. If there's an all-in, do not turn your cards up until the dealer tells you to do so (to be sure that you don't turn them up prematurely). For instance, if you are all-in and more than one other player is still in the hand, you must keep your cards hidden until the side pot is resolved. In short, just wait for the dealer to tell you to turn up your hand.

I'm not pointing this out to judge or make fun of people at all, I just find it extremely interesting and I would have found it more than a bit counterintuitive just four years ago before the WSOP blew up. Now it makes perfect sense because a vast vast majority of the players in the Main Event are online players who have probably never heard of the terms, "brush" (I still don't quite know the origins of why they call it that) or "play over" or "sweat" or "railbird" and many others and I can bet that they're intimidated as hell. I would be.

No, not making fun. Just something that I find bit interesting, that's all.

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