WSOP Kickoff Rally

There was a pep rally for Rio employees yesterday for the WSOP that was a lot of fun. Several of the property management team was there pushing the Harrah's commitment to customer service and rallying the staff for a truly incredible event. I really do think that most all of them think it is an incredible honor to be hosting the tournament, with its history and all. It is the grand daddy of poker tournaments, and the WSOP brand strength and tie-ins with sponsors is unparalleled. We got a sneek peak at a few of the announcements that will be coming out the first week of the tournament, and I got a sense that everyone was really trying to raise the bar this year. There is quite a bit of competition after all. The commissioner of the WSOP, Jeffrey Pollack was there. He talked quite a bit about the future of the WSOP and showed a sizzle reel of excerpts from past tournaments with a lot of promotional production value added. It was only about 5 mins, but it was spine tingling. How cool is this? Robert Williamson III was there and spoke for a few moments about how WSOP bracelets are the true measure of achievement in the eyes of the poker professionals. They showed off the new bracelet being made by Corum, which is far nicer than the bling I've seen before. They had a demonstration holdem hand with an Elvis dealer and dancers and all.