It's getting very difficult to find a time slot during the calendar year when a major poker tournament is not being held. In fact, it's getting so difficult; something that three years ago no one would have ever thought possible is starting to occur, and this is overlap. Sheesh. Who would have thunk?

The two major combatants in the world of tournament poker, of course, are the World Poker Tour and Harrah's, who owns the rights for the World Series of Poker and all WSOP circuit events. Evidence of overlap occurred recently in Las Vegas when Harrah's ran a circuit event at Caesars Palace from April 27 through May 12, while just a couple of blocks north on the Strip, the WPT's Mirage Poker Showdown took place on May 4 through May 17.

While not quite overlapping, the newest WPT event began on May 25 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, ending just over 2 weeks prior to the beginning of the World Series of Poker at the Rio beginning on June 25. So action on the felt in Las Vegas is fast and furious during the spring and summer as these heavyweights battle for poker supremacy.

There are similarities in the way the WPT and WSOP run their events, but there are also differences.

Poker Player had the opportunity to speak with the tournament directors of both the WSOP circuit event at Caesars and the WPT Mirage Poker Showdown to get their views on each of their events.

Robert Daily was in charge of the circuit event at Caesars Palace. Mr. Daily is a Harrah's employee, and his official title is Manager of Tournament Poker for Las Vegas Poker Operations, which includes all of Harrah's properties in Las Vegas. This means he will also be the tournament director at the World Series of Poker at the Rio in June.

Another highly respected and personable man is Richard White, Tournament Director at the Mirage and for the WPT Mirage Poker Showdown. Mr. White also does outside tournaments on the weekends at other properties owned by the MGM Mirage, and has been in the industry for 38 years.

When asked what percentage of the players got into the main event at Caesars through single or multi-table satellites, Mr. Daily estimated between 12-15%, with the rest buying in directly. No online satellites were offered for the event as far as Mr. Daily was aware. This is in sharp contrast to the WPT main event at the Mirage, where Mr. White felt that half the field qualified through their in-house satellite structures, and maybe another 5% qualified through playing online.

This might, to some degree, account for the difference in the number of players who entered each venue's main event. The circuit event at Caesars drew a field of 209 players for their championship event, while the WPT championship event at the Mirage drew 384 players, nearly twice as many. The other major contributing factor to this discrepancy can probably be attributed to the WPT's event being televised, while the WSOP's event at Caesars was not. This illustrates the influence that possibly appearing at a televised final table has among those entering major tournaments. Another significant difference in the two events was in the payouts of prize money. Mr. Daily says that players are offered a choice in how they are paid, which can be in cash, by check, in casino chips, or a combination thereof, but that W2G forms are filled out for tax purposes if the players have a social security card and a United States address. If they are foreign players, they are required to fill out the form 1042S, which withholds 30% of their winnings.

W2G forms, however, were not required at the WPT event at the Mirage. According to Mr. White, "we take chips in, and we pay chips out." Mr. White added that MGM Mirage properties are able to obtain an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) for a foreign player who comes from a country with a tax treaty with the United States, but that Harrah's chooses not to, even though they have the capability. Foreign players from those countries that do not have a tax treaty with the U.S. do have 30% withheld by MGM Mirage properties.

The next topic discussed was that of tournament and satellite structures. Mr. Daily said that Harrah's, under the guidance of Jack Effel, the new WSOP Director of Operations for the circuit tour, was moving towards standardizing the format and structure for all circuit event tournaments so players knew in advance what they could expect wherever they chose to play. Not so with the WPT, where Mr. White said that this was left to the individual casinos' discretion. Mr. White stated that the structures for tournament events and satellites at the Bellagio and the Mirage, only a couple of blocks apart and both owned by MGM Mirage were similar, but not identical, and that each casino reserved the right to modify them according to their individual needs. This includes determining the length of rounds, blind structure, the number of starting chips in both satellites and tournaments, and the cost of the satellites and the amount of juice extracted.

When reached by phone, Jack McClelland, the highly respected Tournament Director for the Bellagio, echoed Mr. White's opinion, as did Lyle Berman, CEO of World Poker Tour Enterprises. Mr. Berman believed some standardization, such as certain rules and the number of hours played in a day might be incorporated in all WPT events, but that the WPT only offers suggestions, leaving the decisions regarding format, structure, and cost to the individual casinos.

The big difference here is that all WSOP circuit events are held at properties owned by Harrah's, making standardization more logical.

The WPT events are held at casinos all across the nation and other parts of the world that are owned by several different organizations, making standardization less likely.

The single-table satellites offered by Caesars and the Mirage were similar in cost, but again there were differences. Caesars spread single-table satellites for $35, $70, $130, $180, $225, and $275, in which players received $1000 in starting chips and the blinds increased every 15 minutes. They also offered a $525 single-table satellite, where players received $2000 in starting chips and the blinds increased every 20 minutes, as well as one for $1030, where players began with $4000 in chips and had 20- minute rounds.

The Mirage offered single- table satellites for $60, $125, $175, $225, $275, $810, and $1060. The $60 satellite only allowed players $500 in starting chips, and the blinds increased every 10 minutes. The $125 and $175 satellites gave players $1500 in chips with 15-minute rounds. The rounds were also 15 minutes in the $225 and $275 satellites, but players received $2000 in chips in the $225 and $2500 in chips in the $275. In the $810 satellite, players received a healthy $3500 in chips and had 20-minute rounds, while the $1060 buy-in gave players 30- minute rounds and a substantial $5000 in starting chips.

Players who enjoyed playing in the least expensive satellites suffered at both venues. At Caesars, $80 in juice was taken out of the $350 prize pool collected for the $35 singletable satellite, nearly 23%, leaving entrants to play for only $270 in cash. At the Mirage, the $60 satellite had the worst structure, with blinds increasing every 10 minutes and players only given $500 in chips, but only $50 in juice was taken out, giving a $500 tournament entry chip and $50 cash to the winner.

Checking in on the recent action at the WPT event at Mandalay Bay, the least expensive single-table satellite offered was $130, so players who enjoyed playing in satellites for less than $100 didn't even have that option. And unlike last year's WSOP at the Rio, the popular $50 single-table satellites will not be offered this year due to lack of table space. According to WSOP officials, the least expensive will be $125 or $130.

The final topic discussed was that of the releases that players must sign to participate in WSOP or WPT events. Mr. Daily stated that there have been some questions about the WSOP release, but that their release is somewhat different from that of the WPT's. He believed lawyers have made allowances for those pro players who have professional contracts and endorsements by making small adjustments to the release, but stated that the pushback from the players has been very minor. Mr. White, on the other hand, while regretting that there were a few players boycotting WPT events because of their releases, stated there was currently no shortage of up-and-coming players waiting in the wings to replace them.

In general, the way the events are conducted here in Las Vegas, whether they be WSOP or WPT sponsored, are very efficient. While additional lesser expensive satellites are probably desired by those with big dreams but small bankrolls, the excitement of being a part of the action and the potential opportunities for fame and fortune that these events provide seemed to negate most of the criticism that has been expressed.