The Main Event is over……for now.

The WSOP Main Event attracted a little over 6800 players this year, each putting up the 10,000 dollar buy in to play in the best tournament in my opinion, in the world. It took four day 1s just to get the field small enough so they could all play in the same room and then several more days just to get it down to 90 players.

Once it got down to 27 they called it a day and then the marathon day 7 begun. It took FOREVER to get from 27 to 9 players. The added incentive of the huge money was planted in each players mind, 18 tried and failed to make it, however to the 9 that have, they are each guaranteed 900,000 dollars even if they finish 9th.

Heres where I have a problem with this. The new thing they are trying this year makes it so that once the final table of 9 has been reached. The main event will end for now and come back in November where the Final Table can be broadcast in a better way. I do not like this one bit and I have several reasons why.

* Previous main event bracelets now mean more to me than this one. They had to endure 12 hour final tables just days after the previous. Now with players getting four months to rest, they can come back as fresh as possible. It doesnt make it the same. The feeling of the main event being about stamina as a player is now gone. They will come back in November yes, but at what cost? I really hope the main event does not suffer because of this move but I fear that it may.

* Each player now has 4 months to scout out the competition. This is so crucial now in final table play but it means that all previous main event final tables have not had this luxury. I believe because of these reasons this main event cannot be treated the same as lets say Joe Hachems win in 05 or Jamie Golds win in 06 because they did not get the time to rest and to gather intel on the 8 other players.

I hear the WSOP is doing it to increase revenue. It just means the players get taken advantage of again and again. Harrahs already took 13 million in rake for this world series, isnt that enough? Clearly. It isnt. Many pros are less than happy about this move.

What I find worse is that the final heads up battle will start the next day! Yeah just go and take all the buzz and excitement out of the room, kill the final table feel and do it for more broadcasting and money sponsorships. Wonderful …/sarcasm.

I guess once November rolls around we will see the end of the main event and see the success or failure this move brings. I look foward to the final table but wish it could have been done the old way, as do many.

–James–