It’s looking likely that the World Poker Tour will be introducing a shot clock at WPT events after a poll revealed that a huge 80% of players were in favor of it. This move could see the start of something big and if it proves successful then it could quite possibly change live poker tournaments forever. Many professional players are in favor of the move that would speed the game up and although exactly how this would work is still not known, it has been mentioned that a 30 second shot clock would be implemented, with an additional 60 seconds should players require it. Players were also asked where they wanted to actually see the shot clock and whether that would be during the whole tournament, at the last few tables or at the final table only.
It seems set to be implemented and the WPT can change the format of their own tournaments as they see fit, however the knock on effect of the change will be interesting to see. It could be only a matter of time until we see many, if not all land based poker tournaments introduce some kind of shot clock, it may even get to the stage where it’s standardized, across all tournaments, and many players think that it’s about time that it is, especially those who play online poker. Shot clocks are of course in operation on all US facing online poker sites such as Bovada, as without them, playing would of course be impossible. A shot clock would also suit television perfectly, add much more speed and action to the event and make things a whole lot more interesting too, a little like what a shot clock did for the game of basketball!
