The attendance at the 2008 WSOP has broken previous records and shown that the game is still in a growth period, despite the attempts of the American government to stop it. This year’s WSOP had a record attendance at 57,793, breaking the 2007 record of 54,288. It also broke the prize-pool record from last year with a whopping $180,960,934 in available winnings.

It also broke the record for the largest poker tournament outside the main event with 3,929 players in the No Limit Holdem Event #2. And players from 104 different countries and territories were represented this year, compared to the previous record of 87.

This shows that poker is still growing throughout the world. Despite the economic and political situation in the United States poker is on the rise with more foreign players entering the scene. It should also experience more growth once the laws are changed in the U.S.

Poker pro Evelyn Ng plays for Team Bodog

If you can’t make it to the World Series of Poker in Vegas you can still get in on the action without having to leave the comforts of your own home. To be held during the same time period as the WSOP in Vegas, Bodog Poker’s Mini-SOP online poker tournament will only cost you about 1 percent of the actual buy-in of the WSOP Event.

“We’re happy to offer those not able to attend the 2008 WSOP in person an affordable and exciting online alternative,” says Alwyn Morris, CEO of the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, which runs Bodog in North America. “For only one percent of the standard WSOP Main Event buy-in cost, Bodog online poker players can have a shot at the Mini-SOP crown and three $12,000 prize packages including entry into the 2009 WSOP Main Event.”

The Bodog Poker Mini-SOP starts on May 30th through July 3rd, with the top 27 players (on the tournament leaderboard) competing in the final event to be held on July 10th. The top 3 finishers at the final event will each be awarded a $12,000 prize package to the 2009 WSOP Main Event. Places four through nine will receive $109 to buy into online poker tournaments in the Bodog Poker room.

For more information on the Bodog Poker Mini-SOP, visit the Bodog Poker Room.

The latest edition of the WSOP circuit events is taking place at the Horseshoe Council Bluffs in Council Bluffs Iowa. The stop has over 30 events where the buy-in is $500 or less, with a main event of only $5000. This is obviously to get more action in this part of the country, and it seemed to work when 492 players showed up for the no-limit holdem event #1 on Feb 18. The main event starts on the 25th and will run for three days.

The next stop is in Atlantic City at Caesars at the beginning of March. There will only be 10 events at this tournament, and the championship is once again only $5000. Mike Pickett won last month’s event at Harrah’s Rincon San Diego North. He took home $229,000, and a WSOP bracelet, after beating out 147 other players. David Peters finish in second place for $120,156.

High stakes poker players are known to bet exuberant amounts of money on prop bets. Stars like Daniel Negreanu and Gavin Smith live their lives from one game to the next, betting all the way. The newest craze among this elite group is Wii. The most skill-demanding video game has even been a tool to win a WSOP main event entry last July. Paul Wasicka was the first to write about gathering a bunch of poker pros who had to play Wii bowling, with the winner getting a WSOP main event buy-in worth $10,000.

It was never announced who won the buy-in, but it appears that it wasn’t Wasicka. It’s not the traditional type of satellite, but when you have the kind of cash these guys have it’s no big deal. You would think that Wii would run with this, and promote a tournament for these pros themselves.

Over the last couple of months poker pro Phil Ivey has had a tough go of things. He dropped out of the WPT Doyle Brunson Classic just three spots short of the money. And then back at Full Tilt Poker headquarters Ivey lost two massive Omaha pots to Finnish online competitor Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies. Still, according to many of his peers, Phil Ivey is the world’s best player. Here’s why:

Born Feb. 1, 1976 in Riverside, Calif., Phil Ivey’s accomplishments include three bracelets at the 2002 World Series of Poker, tying Phil Hellmuth Jr and Ted Forrest for the most wins in a single year. Ivey also has WSOP bracelets in Pot Limit Omaha from 2000 and 2005. In 2000, he was the first player to beat Amarillo Slim heads-up.

Ivey also won the $1,000,000 first prize at the Monte Carlo Millions tournament on Nov. 20, 2005 and then a day later he took home another $600,000 for finishing first at “The FullTiltPoker.Net Invitational Live from Monte Carlo”.

To date Phil Ivey’s tournament winnings total more than $8 million.

1. The Borgata Winter Open, Jan. 15 to 31. There will be 13 events with a $10,000 Main Event.

2. The Aussie Millions, Jan. 5 to 20 at the Crown Casino in Melbourne.

3. WSOP Harrah’s New Orleans, May 9-21. They’ll have 10 events including the $5000 Main Event.

4. WPT L.A. Poker Classic, Jan. 24 to Mar. 3. There will be 30 events including the $10,000 Main Event.

5. WPT Bay 101 in San Jose March 10-14 will also have a $10,000 Main Event.

6. WPT World Championship in Las Vegas on April 19-25 will have a $25,000 Main Event.

7. EPT Grand Final Monte Carlo Bay Resort April 12-17 will have a 10,000 Euro buy-in.

8. WSOP Las Vegas May 30 – July 17 will have 55 events this year.

9. PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure Atlantis, Bahamas, Jan. 5-10.

10. EPT Scandinavian Open Casino Copenhagen, Denmark, February 19-23.