To get a top tournament director's take on some current poker issues and a peek at the game's future, I cornered the popular and highly respected Jimmy Sommerfeld recently in Minnesota.

Sommerfeld, who directs big tournaments across the country, took a few minutes during the Fall Poker Classic at Canterbury Park near Minneapolis to answer eight quick questions about the game he loves:

Q: What's your take on delaying the World Series main event final table for nearly four months?

A: I think that maybe it'll be good for the World Series. I have to wait until after it happens, but if people watch it on TV and it gives more excitement to poker, then I think it's a good idea. (Ratings for the final table telecast Nov. 11 on ESPN were up dramatically — about 50 percent higher than last year.)

Q: What's your reaction to rules enforcement at the World Series — for example, the Phil Hellmuth tirade against a player in the main event and Scotty Nguyen's behavior at the $50,000 mixed-games final table?

A: If I'd have been on the floor at the time that either one of those situations happened, they would definitely have received a penalty. They happened during late hours, and I was on the day shift. I think that it was an unfortunate situation.

When I direct a tournament, I try to treat everybody the same, and I don't give any more leeway to big-name players than I would anybody else. I think what they did was out of line. No one is above the rules.

Q: How does such behavior impact poker, especially people who are watching on TV but also poker players in general?

A: I think the players do it mostly for the television. I think ESPN likes it, and the players think that's what they have to do to be a star in the poker world. I think that's a bad thing. Poker got out of the barrooms and into the public, and when players do things like that, I think it puts a bad light back on poker.

Q: Where is tournament attendance heading and poker popularity overall?

A: I think there are way too many tournaments. What happens is it dilutes all the fields. That, along with the economy right now, I think is really hurting poker. Here at Canterbury the fields were pretty good, but three other recent tournaments I directed were down 40 percent to 60 percent.

I think the tournaments have to get a little more player-friendly as far as starting chips, maybe some added money and some sponsorship. I still think that corporate sponsorship needs to get into poker. Until then, I don't think it's going to grow much more than it already has.

Q: What else might cause a surge in interest in poker?

A: I believe that poker can be built up to be a lot bigger than it is right now. One thing poker needs to do is the same thing as the NFL and NBA, with basically the same pros playing week to week so you can pull for your favorite pro. I think something like that, with sponsorship dollars and some kind of a league with the pros, would create more interest.

Q: What impact would Olympics swimming star Michael Phelps have on poker if he starts regularly playing high-visibility poker tournaments?

A: I think it'll be pretty good for the game for a while, but I think poker needs something else. He'd be good for the game because he's a celebrity, but I don't think it would build poker up just because of him.

Q: Any opinion on the automated poker tables showing up in some card rooms?

A: At one time I thought they were really going to catch on, but after being at several places where they had them, the players didn't seem to like them and they got very little play. I've tried it, but I don't think it's going to catch on.

Q: What are the joys and woes of your job?

A: The joys are I get to travel a lot and meet a lot of players. The woes are the abuse some players give the dealers and other players. It'd be better if everybody would just come in here and play cards and understand that's it's just a game and there's going to be some unlucky times and some lucky times.

This is a great job. I went from sacking groceries 14 years ago to running around the country and helping direct some of the greatest tournaments. I'll keep trying to build them up to an even better quality product than what we have right now.

E-mail your poker questions and comments to [email protected] for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com or www.luckydogpoker.com.