The explosion in the popularity of poker the last few years has seen everything that can somehow be attached to the game marketed and sold. This includes books, games, calendars, cards and even poker camps.

It may seem like a novelty idea, but poker camps have become very popular and are big business recently. A number of professional poker players either run their own camp or are affiliated with one in some way. Howard Lederer helps run Poker Reality Camp, Camp Hellmuth is run by Phil Hellmuth and even Doyle Brunson got in on the act with his son Todd Brunson in the Super System Poker Camp. One of the most popular and well-known camps is the WPT Boot Camp run by the same people that produce the World Poker Tour.

With a wide range of admission fees (from as low as $1,500 to as high as $3,500 and up), is it worth shelling out the cash? It’s worth noting that anyone who thinks they can’t learn a few things from a poker pro is a fool, and deserves to keep making mistakes at the table. Internet message boards indicate that most poker players (novice or experts) find the camps well worth the time and money because of the close interaction with the pros and the close attention paid to skills that are actually helpful at the table. If you do have a couple extra grand, attending a poker camp may be a good investment to improve your game and win more cash.

When it comes to WSOP Bracelets there are five men at the top of the heap.

1. Phil Hellmuth has won 11 WSOP bracelets in only 18 years, all playing no-limit Texas hold’em. Phil claims that he gave away all of them besides the main event championship.

2. Doyle Brunson has 10 bracelets in seven different poker variations. His last was in 2005 and he’s a threat to win one every year.

3. Johnny Chan also has 10 bracelets to his credit. Like Doyle he has won bracelets in seven different variations of the game, and he won all of them in only 20 years.

4. Johnny Moss is right up there with nine bracelets of his own. He’s won them all playing either No limit Hold’em, Ace to Five Draw or Seven Card Stud.

5. Erik Seidel comes in fifth with eight. He has wins in six different poker variations.

There are two three-time WSOP main event winners. Only Johnny Moss (1970, 1971 and 1974) and Stu Unger (1981, 1982 and 1997) were able to achieve that feat. They both won it twice in a row, as did Doyle Brunson (1976 and 1977) and Johnny Chan (1987 and 1988).

Other big-name winners include Chris “Jesus” Ferguson (2000), Phil Hellmuth (1989), Dan Harrington (1995), Scotty Nguyen (1998), Huck Seed (1996), Robert Varkonyi (2002) and Carlo Mortensen (2001).

Recent winners have won huge amounts, with the biggest winner being Jamie Gold ($12 million) in 2006. In 2007, Jerry Yang won $8.25 million and Joseph Hachem pocketed $7.5 million in 2005. Chris Moneymaker (2003) set the poker world afire when he won the main event, and $2.5 million, after winning his way into the tournament via an online satellite tournament. Greg Raymer was the other big main event winner, winning $5 million in 2004, and almost won it again the next year in 2005.

The main event is underway at the Rio in Las Vegas as we speak, but the next Poker World Championship is still a long way and many hours at the tables from being crowned. The main event kicked off with Day 1A last Friday, but the final table won’t be played until Tuesday, July 17.

The first two days of the main event drew a combined 2,832 players, and with approximately 1,600 players expected to come out for Days 1C and 1D, the organizers are estimating a field of around 6,000 players, give or take a few. For those keeping score at home, that total would be down from 8,773 last year.

Before the hordes gathered for the main event, there were at least a few noteworthy bracelet winners over the last month at the Rio. One of the first bracelet winners at this year’s WSOP was Tom Schneider, who won Event 5, the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha/7 Card Stud Hi/Lo tourney during the opening week. Schneider became the lone double-bracelet winner at this year’s 2007 WSOP three weeks later, when he was the last man standing in Event 46 , the $1,000 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo. Schneider also made another final table this year and pocketed a combined $416,829 in prize money, and won the 2007 WSOP Player of the Year Award.

The richest winner at the 2007 WSOP heading into the main event was Bill Edler. The poker pro won his first WSOP bracelet and $904,672 after winning Event 45, the $5,000 No Limit Short Handed. Edler barely topped Burt Boutin by just over $3,000. Boutin won Event 7, the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha, and cashed in two other events to pocket $901,456.

The win that had everyone talking was Phil Hellmuth’s record-setting 11th WSOP bracelet. Hellmuth passed Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan after achieving his 11th WSOP victory in Event 15, $1,500 No Limit Hold’em. Hellmuth has been his usual consistent self at this year’s WSOP, having made two final tables and cashing six times.

Most sportsbooks out there that are offering props on the 2007 World Series of Poker like to offer one pitting poker legend Doyle Brunson against his son Todd Brunson in the $10,000 main event. Bodog is no exception and has the younger Brunson listed as a slight favorite at -140 to go further than his famous dad in the main event. The Texas Dolly is current listed at Even.

So who really does have the advantage in the WSOP main event, Doyle or Todd? Well, Doyle has more experience in the big show, having won it twice and also holding a record 10 WSOP bracelets. Todd has never made it all the way in the big one and his WSOP jewelry collection consists of only one bracelet.

Not only does WSOP history seem to favor Doyle, but so does the present. Neither father nor son made it to the money in the main event last year or in 2005. Doyle had a good run in 2004 though, finishing 53rd overall out of 2576 players. Todd failed to money that year, meaning Doyle would have been the winning pick on the prop bet.

To find Todd’s last WSOP main event cash, and actually his only WSOP main event cash, you have to go all the way back to 1992. Todd came 13th that year out of a much smaller field of 201 players.

The only advantage that Todd seems to have over his father is age. Doyle is getting up there at 73 years of age, while Todd is only 37 years old. Don’t let Doyle’s rising age fool you, though. He’s still a methodical poker player that last won a WSOP bracelet in 2005 and could easily make it to the final table in the main event, with a little of the old Doyle Brunson luck.

Get all your WSOP props at the Bodog Sportsbook!

There are many poker stars that have had legendary performances, but few have had a legendary career. One player has dominated the game more than any other; he led the creation of the modern poker era, and continues to be one of the game’s best players at the age of 72. He has been the king of poker for close to 40 years now, and he’s not about to stop anytime soon.

Doyle Brunson literally wrote the book on poker, “Super System”, and was the first top player to reveal the power of aggressive play and the importance of getting a read on your opponent’s actions and habits. He has since added the sequel to the book with “Super System 2”, and some other publications are due out soon.

His accomplishments are so numerous it would take up too much space in this article to detail them all. Some highlights include back-to-back WSOP Main Event Championships, ten WSOP Bracelets, a WPT Championship and over four million dollars in tournament earnings. Brunson plays in the highest cash games in the world, and he led the infamous “Texas Rounders” group in the 50’s and 60’s playing high-stakes poker in Texas.

His poker abilities pale in comparison to the man that he is. He has overcome situations that would destroy the average man. His spirit did not weaken after he crushed his leg at work, on the summer before he was starting his professional basketball career, or when he was diagnosed with cancer. He continued to pursue his dream of playing poker regardless of how things went along the way.

For all this he has become the ambassador of the game, and everyone cheers for Doyle if he’s sitting in. He is the face for Doyle’s Room online poker room, and he can be seen at most major tournaments. He brought poker into the mainstream, nurtured it through the changes, and continues to set an example for every player that dreams of being a top pro.