2013 World Series of Poker Predictions

The 2012 World Series of Poker is almost upon us. In three weeks' time, the first of 62 bracelet-awarding events kicks off when the $500 Casino Employees event and the $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold'em Eight Handed event kick off. 

Being a huge fan of the World Series of Poker, I thought it would be fun to make some predictions for the 2013 WSOP to see how many I can predict correctly and to see how many of my thoughts are way off the mark. 

Germans to Dominate

German players have been crushing major live events for the past couple of years and I fully expect that to continue into this year's WSOP.

When you look down the list of German players who you would expect to be in Las Vegas  the names of true stars stares back right at you. The list includes the likes of Tobias Reinkemeier, two-time World Poker Tour champion Marvin Rettenmaier, Dominik Nitsche, Fabian Quoss, Ole Schemion, Benny Spindler, Philipp Gruissem, Pius Heinz, Sebastian Ruthenberg and Martin Finger to name just a few. 

If one or more of these do not win a bracelet or at least come close to doing so I will eat my non-existent hat!

Brits to make up for 2012

British players did not have the best of WSOP's last year, winning just a single bracelet. Our players had plenty of deep runs but people only remember the winners in this crazy game we all love to play.

An army of Brits is descending on Las Vegas this summer and I would expect at God Save The Queen to be bellowing out of The Rio on at least three occasions during the 2013 WSOP. If I were a betting man, and I am, I would be looking to take a punt on Chris Moorman on finally winning a bracelet. The online superstar has come so close numerous times and surely 2013 is the time he adds some gold to his poker achievements. 

Men to still enter the Women-Only Event

The WSOP is one of the major poker tours that offer a women-only event. Love them or loathe them, Women-only events give female poker players the chance to compete against their peers in a major tournament.

For the past few years there have been male entrants in the women's event. Shaun Deeb entered a few years back for a prop bet and did so wearing women's clothing, but sometime men just enter the tournament because they legally can. That and they think they are being big and clever - they are not.

Rather than incur the wrath of the sex discrimination boards and ban all men, what the WSOP has done this year is set the entry fee for the Women's event at $10,000 instead of the usual $1,000 but is giving female players at $9,000 discount! It's genius when you think of it but I believe you will still get me entering just to prove a point. 

Phil Hellmuth to win bracelet # 14

There was a time that I used to think Phil Hellmuth was an overrated donkey who was milking his past fame in today's poker world. Then I had the joy of covering a number of tournaments that he was playing in and he was a pleasure to report on.

While Hellmuth's ego often makes him come out with some ridiculous phrases and while his playing style often leaves you scratching your head and wondering what the hell just happened, you cannot deny that he is one of the best poker players in the world when he is against bad players - the WSOP is full of bad players.

Hellmuth's performances in the WSOP events last year and at the WSOP Europe Main Event show that he has been working on his game and that he is prepared to make changes to how he approaches the game.

Daniel Negreanu to win another bracelet

Daniel Negreanu is a man in a rich vein of form right now and that is good news for his WSOP run. Early reports indicate Negreanu will be playing a much-reduced WSOP schedule, mainly the tournaments that start at 17:00 that have reduced field sizes, and that should increase his chances of winning some poker jewellery.

WSOP Main Event to reach 7,000 entrants

The largest-ever WSOP Main Event took place in 2006 when a staggering 8,773 players bought into it. This tournament was infamously won by Jamie Gold who walked away with the biggest prize in WSOP history, namely $12,000,000.

The second-largest WSOP Main Event came four years later in 2010 when 7,319 players paid the $10,000 entry fee. Jonathan Duhamel of course won that. The number of entrants in 2011 and 2012 was 6,865 and 6,598 respectively but I have a feeling that we could break the 7,000 barrier for only the second time in WSOP history. 

This is probably the least likely of my predictions because this WSOP comes at a time when attendances at the recession-proof European Poker Tour have dropped and the International Stadiums Poker Tour will be taking away some customers from the WSOP Main Event, but I just have a feeling.

What are your WSOP predictions? Let us know in the comments field!

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