世界系列扑克锦标赛在拉斯维加斯拉开帷幕

　　多年以来，成千上万玩家都尝试在世界扑克系列锦标赛发挥自己的运气，但只有一小部分能够获得扑克的最高奖项--WSOP主赛事的金手链。

　　今天，成千上万的玩家都将聚首在拉斯维加斯，那里将2012年世界扑克系列锦标赛的冠军赛场。世界上最大年度的扑克比赛即将开始。在未来十天，最令人兴奋的扑克冠军赛将世界各路高手之间展开角逐。

　　在扑克游戏界的大腕在接下来的三天将陆续出席本赛事。每个玩家都期待着自己能赢得了最负盛名的扑克赛事。

　　“我每年都来参加世界扑克锦标赛，但每一年我都只能眼睁睁地看着别人拿走冠军头衔。”布赖恩如此说道，“我想今年我的钱也许还会落入他人口袋。但我依然很激动地来参加赛事，期待奇迹的发生。在过去的一年里，我在内布拉斯加州练习过很多次扑克游戏，我更希望在这里体验到更精彩、更刺激的扑克游戏，同时可以学习世界一流玩家的技巧和经验。”但布赖恩将不得不面对2012年度最佳扑克玩家菲尔·赫尔姆斯。

　　去年艾维因抵制网络扑克运营商Full Tilt Poker而在美国被起诉。但今年艾维回来了，看来，虽然他是绝对不会错过任何赛事的。在这几年的WSOP赛事上，艾维都发挥了很高的扑克水准。

　　本次比赛前阶段是每三天一个赛程，后阶段是每两天一个赛程。持续10天的比赛后将诞生冠军。一旦本轮赛事诞生最终的冠军，世界系列扑克锦标赛将停止几个月，于11月份会重新召举办最高奖金超过800万美元的大赛事。

　　译文：

　　Hundreds of thousands of players have tried their luck over the years in the World Series of Poker main event, but only a select few have walked away with the top prize in poker, a WSOP main event gold bracelet.

　　Today, thousands of players have filed into the Rio in Las Vegas to take their shot at becoming the 2012 main event champion. The biggest annual tournament in the world began shortly after noon, and for the next ten days some of the most exciting and excruciating poker will be played by professional and amateur players alike.

　　The biggest names in the game will be in attendance over the next three days. This year, there will only be three first days, different from the four that players have grown accustomed to in past years. The rooms at the Rio can accommodate more tables this year, allowing event organizers to cut the start days down to three. Players are looking forward to their shot at winning the most prestigious title in poker.

　　"I come every year with my friends, but in the past I have only watched the main event," said Brian Darlow. "This year, I am thinking about forking over the money to play. I've played a lot at home in Nebraska over the past year, and I want to see how my game stacks up with the pros."

　　Some of those pros that Darlow will have to deal with should he decide to enter the main event include Phil Hellmuth, who is in the running for player of the year honors, Phil Laak, Scotty Nguyen, Mike Matusow, and Phil Ivey. For Ivey, it will be a return to the event that he made a run to the final table at just a year earlier.

　　Last year, Ivey boycotted the main event after Full Tilt Poker, his sponsor, was indicted in the US. Full Tilt did not pay back US players after the indictment came down, and Ivey protested by sitting out the 2011 WSOP. This year, Ivey is back, and it appears as though he has not missed a beat in his time off. Ivey has cashed several times at this years WSOP.

　　The tournament will run three day ones, then several day twos. After ten days of play, with a couple of off days mixed in, the final table will have been reached. Once the final table is set, play will halt for a couple of months, with the players in the November Nine reconvening to play for the bracelet and the over $8 million top prize.