On Friday, May 28th, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) will kick from the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The annual extravaganza encompasses 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 buy-in Main Event on July 5th. Working nearly around-the-clock during the WSOP will be Media Director Nolan Dalla, who has been a staple of the poker industry for 20 years. Dalla is our guest on this week’s edition of the PocketFives.com Podcast.

PocketFives.com sat down with Dalla on Wednesday night, 48 hours removed from the start of the festivities in Las Vegas. The veteran gave us the inside scoop on the final preparations: “The WSOP has become a year-round mission. Now, it’s much bigger and grander. That requires a lot of diligence on our part and a lot of work and effort from a lot of fine people. We’ve been working at the Rio for the past week to put things in place. A lot of that is putting technical things together like lighting, a cage, and 372 poker tables. It’s a really remarkable feat.”
Several major changes in 2010 will alter the WSOP landscape. Notably, the Rio Pavilion, the former home of the Gaming Life Expo, will house an array of poker tables. Additionally, the Pavilion and Amazon Room will be the only two playing areas. Dalla elaborated, “Pretty much all of the Day 1s will start in the Pavilion, which has 200-something poker tables. As players are eliminated, they play into the Amazon Room on Day 2 and the final tables are where they’ve always been, on the ESPN main stage.” Players are, in essence, trying to make their way into the Amazon Room.

This year, the WSOP Tournament of Champions will return and take on an all-star game format. Twenty-seven players will compete in the $1 million freeroll, 20 of which are voted in by the general public. Voting remains open until June 15th at Midnight ET. Dalla is one of many in the industry looking forward to the event: “It’s a wonderful concept. Most of the people that are going to play in this are going to be well known. It will be televised by ESPN, so I expect a lot of excitement to go along with this year’s Tournament of Champions.”

An article posted on WSOP.com discussed ways that poker pros are preparing for the 2010 installment of poker’s most prestigious event. Dalla shared his recommendations: “The main thing to remember is that it’s supposed to be a fun event. It’s supposed to be something that everyone enjoys. The bottom line is that not everyone is going to win a bracelet. Not everyone is going to win money and a lot of people are going to lose money, but the main thing is to enjoy the experience.”

2010 has been dubbed the “Year of the Woman.” Annie Duke (pictured at left) Vanessa Selbst, and Liv Boeree have taken down major titles and we’re only in the month of May. WSOP Vice President Ty Stewart predicted that three women would walk away with bracelets from the 2010 WSOP, including the Ladies Event. Dalla had similar aspirations: “I hope multiple women win open events this year… The numbers are not where they should be and I hope this will be a breakthrough year.”

In 2009, more than 60,000 entrants tossed their hats into the ring in WSOP events, a new record. The total prize pool passed $170 million and 10 events plus Day 1D of the Main Event reached capacity. Accordingly, the annual gala has become quite a hit with the general public. Dalla revealed what spectators can look forward to this year: “We have 57 gold bracelet events and [59] final tables. Three are televised by ESPN and the rest won’t, which usually means there’s open seating in the ESPN main stage. Anyone can come and watch and enjoy the fun.”

Check out the rest of this week’s PocketFives.com Podcast. We’ll see you in Las Vegas!