WSOP qualification

Don’t believe all the doom-mongers who claim that you won’t be able to qualify for the World Series of Poker… yet.

Sections of the online poker community have fuelled speculation that World Series organiser Harrah’s isn’t accepting online qualifiers in the wake of America’s introduction of the SAFE Port Act, but it’s a decision that’s far from set in stone.

WSOP spokesman Gary Thompson told PokerPlayer, ‘There have been a couple of stories saying we’ve made an “official announcement” that we won’t accept online qualifiers when in fact we’ve made no such announcement.’

Under the current WSOP policy, which has been in place for the last two years, online poker sites that have US customers aren’t allowed to register players for any World Series event.

So how have large poker sites been able to offer qualifiers places in the WSOP during that time? Well, the sites have used other companies that have no such restrictions, such as PR firms and banks, to act as the middle man.

And with no forthcoming change of policy from Harrah’s currently expected there’s no reason why the Main Event won’t be teeming with online qualifiers again this year.

The 2007 World Series of Poker begins 1 June and the Main Event, still the biggest event in the poker calendar, kicks off on 6 July at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. We’ll have a full run-down of the events soon.