by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Jun 8, 2012 | Updated on Jun 8, 2012No matter where you play your poker – online, at live casinos, or just in home games with friends – it’s hard to ignore the biggest poker event of the year. The World Series of Poker is in full swing right now, and after the first ten days of action, there have already been a number of exciting stories on and off the felt.One of the more dramatic moments thus far took place in the first open tournament of the series: Event #2, a $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament. Going into the series, it seemed almost a given that the record for the longest streak of open tournaments without a female winner would be broken, as no woman had accomplished the feat since Vanessa Selbst in 2008. But in that first event, Selbst threatened to break that streak herself, reaching the final table before finally bowing out in 4th place.Since then, several women have made final table runs, but none have won an event. Amanda Musumeci came the closest, finishing 2nd in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Re-entry tournament before falling to Ashkah Razavi. Despite the lose, Musumeci took home a massive consolation prize of $481,643, while Razavi won the largest prize awarded so far at the series: $781,398.So far, this has been a WSOP that has seen big name players make deep runs, and a couple even win bracelets. None of these victors has wanted it more than Andy Bloch, though, who finally earned his first ever WSOP bracelet by winning a $1,500 Seven Card Stud tournament. Bloch had to defeat Barry Greenstein heads up to win his elusive title.Of course, the biggest tournaments are yet to come. It was announced today that “The Big One For One Drop” now has 42 confirmed entrants, guaranteeing that it will award the largest prize in poker history to the eventual winner.And, of course, there’s the Main Event, which will attract thousands of players looking to become poker’s next World Champion. Online poker players still have plenty of chances to gain a seat in poker’s most famous tournament, as sites like Party Poker and 888 Poker are continuing to offer online satellites into the Main Event. Many of these satellites offer packages that include hotel costs and other expenses, making it easier for winners to travel to the event.
