WSOP ME Final Table to be delayed...

I don't see how anyone on either side can get really worked up about this. My biggest beef with the idea is that I really can't see any point to it. Sure, I can't see any huge reason to oppose the idea, but the status quo was just fine imo.

Will it even make more money for TV? Sure, they have three months or however long it is to advertise and try and pull in viewers, but many people will lose the WSOP 'fever' in the interim and find themselves not bothered, especially if there are no big names at the FT.

The "but some of the players might get coaching!" point is pretty moot, as it's an option open to everyone and therefore not placing any individual at an inherent disadvantage. Some players might have received coaching before the event - do we think that all entrants should be given a free Cardrunners membership before the event or something to balance things out?

I do have to admit that I look forward to the story of the guy who final tabled the WSOP, stayed in Vegas for the interim, needed to finish third to break even because he'd blown all his money and then some, and then won the thing.

No, of course not. Just that the logistics of it could be that way. Obviously there could be a European regional as well.

I knew that I could count on Mike the Mouth to "tell it like it is!" Listen to his Mouthpiece show at Cardplayer.com.

Good article here.

I don't really care one way or the other (although I do tend to lean toward thinking this is lame). It's obvious they are doing this so that they can make the FT a pay-per-view event. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Actually, it's the opposite. As the FT will now be broadcast (almost) live on ESPN there will no longer be a ppv event ($20 last year).

It is a good article and with some extra info on what they plan to do, pay-out and interest growth on the remaining monies sounds a good idea, but.....

I still have two qualms with this, firstly the poor way in which it came out just a month or so before the event starts, what was the excuse, they forgot?

And why is the break so long months?, a month is 4 weeks after but months

*on a side note im a little surprised that someone who covered the ME cannot even name 5 of the FT players less than a year later

Kravchenko, Tuan Lam, Yang, Kalmer, Rahme & Hevad Khan (has he forgotten him? )

Better one here Poker Articles - Greed Gone Wild - WSOP Final Table Rescheduled

Agreed, I didn't realise that they had been accepting prepaid entries for the main event weeks before the change announcement.

We'll see soon how this pans out. I don't think these 9 are going to be household names, Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson aren't household names. Harrahs repeatedly cock the event up (missing chips, cards where 6 and 9 look the same, same coloured chips for different deniminations etc). God knows what mess they'll make with 4 months to cock it up.

^^^^WINNER

Right on Rob. They will screw it up somehow. Let's not forget the poker tent last year which is gone this year.

Another article:

A Comprehensive Look at the WSOP Final Table Delay – Part One | Poker News

I won't go so far as to say it's a good article (it's actually entertainingly biased) but it does explain why it's a four month gap, and not a three month one or a five month one:

Turns out the four months is exactly the amount of time required to show all of the preliminary event and pre-final table Main Event episodes that ESPN films. So the whole thing will be seamless if you only watch the ESPN coverage.

I'm actually starting to be OK with this, in an "Now that I've thought about it, I don't care a gread deal" way. Thinking back to last year's series, I got a lot more of a kick out of following the bracelet events than I did the Main Event anyway, and the bracelet events will be left untouched.

I actually kind of like it. The players should get a break from all that nonsense.

But they are showing fewer bracelet events this year.

In '07 they had 9 prelim bracelet events, plus HORSE, plus the ME.

In '08 they have 5 prelim bracelet events, plus HORSE, plus more ME.

That does suck, granted.

I'm talking about following the events live on the net though.

Yes, I am a nerd

They talked about this on the PokerCast with Barry G. People are going to be able to go back and watch every other players play, up until that point. They will be able to study the other persons play for the entire tourney until that point (if they are on a tv table of course). That seems to be most of where the significant argument comes from. See when they were bluffing, look for tells etc. It really is good for the marketing guys to rake in a ton of money, but honestly I think it sucks. I wouldnt want to wait if I made it that deep. Though I did hear that they are going to pay everyone that makes the final table, the 9th place spot. So the final 9 guys get 800,000 (whatever the 9th place gets paid), on the spot, so they will have that money to hold them over until the final table is played. I guess it will be good if it brings more players into the sport but I still think it sucks overall. Poker is turning into every other sport, being so commericialized. This is probably why the buyin is still 10,000 - the same as it has been for 30 years. Way back when, 10 grand was a ton of money. That is why only the best came and the tourney didnt have 10,000 players. I would be happy to see them raise the buyin to 30,000 and cut the field by a third...

what kind of odds will people lay me on the chip leader getting assassinated?

I guess the argument on the first point is that they'll all have an equal opportunity to study the televised hands before the final table. Like I said earlier, the chance to improve your game is going to be a much bigger deal to the amateurs than it will be to the pros, but then like I said earlier as well, I suspect a lot of the pros have written winning the Main Event off as a long shot at best.

As to the prize money, they're paying everyone 9th place on the spot, and they're also putting the remainder in an interest-bearing account so the remaining prize money will actually grow a little over the four months.

Anyone that thinks it's good for the game must only like watching poker on TV vs. playing poker.

Let' pretend you win the Poker Stars free roll and you get to the final table. You've got some really good reads and know the tells of 3 or 4 players at the table. You feel great and you have momentum on your side. OH wait then you have to wait 4 months to play. The WSOP is one giant sattilite to a final table now. Very sad.

I follow them on the net too. Yes we're nerds, but we're poker fans, so it's all good.

If it's Matusow, 1-5.

From the article
Really? can't say watching a goal in football and AA in poker i have ever reacted the same way lol

Well, since watching it on television is one of the most boring things I can imagine I doubt it will make any difference to me. I'm certainly not planning to play in it barring some type of miracle win on Stars that gets me a seat (which I would then try to sell to someone for whatever I could get) and even with a seat I doubt I would make it far before succumbing to the boredom of a live event and going all in with nothing.

The reason the ratings are down for tv coverage is that they give the players too much time to make decisions. It's like baseball, without the obvious ball scratching. Who wants to watch while someone sits there for 3 minutes before making a play?

Not that I really want this to happen but I think it would be interesting if during the 3 month hiatus one or more of the competitors became incapacitated and unable to play. I can just see the lawsuits now.

lol, worst analagy ever

Well frankly my first reaction was purely on a selfish note. For me, should I make it to Las Vegas to participate in the main event, this would be a feat in itself. Of course I would then do my very best to make it to the final table. Since I have played poker for a long time I have been on quite a few final tables. My most important final table was in The Hall of Fame Poker Classic Ladies 7-stud event in 1989. It was a grueling 14+ hrs. of playing. This was my second time ever at a final table, but by far the biggest. And even though I could sit and grind for many more hrs. than that in a cash game I have to admit that I was very tired. So a break to recharge ones batteries would not have been wrong.

Then this being in July I would spend another week or two and celebrate my birthday while I was there. After all for me it is not a couple of hours in a car or a plane. it is a long journey just getting there so I would want to spend some time with my son who lives there and rest up before returning to Sweden.

Should I then be among the lucky nine to go on to the final table I would be thrilled at coming back in November to play that last sitting. As pointed out these preceding months I would be able to secure some lucrative sponsoring and build strength for the finishing game. Besides this I would no matter the outcome get to celebrate my sons birthday while there since he is born in November.

Another thing that appeals to me is the fact that this would give legitimacy to the idea that poker is a game of skill not just mere luck. So from that standpoint I think this might be good for poker.

Mariana aka Fivver

This is the dumbest idea WSOP has ever had.

I also listened to Greenstein on the pokercast and he talked in depth about it. After hearing his opinions (he's on the committee that had to agree to this change) I don't think anymore that it's totally bad, at least if you're a professional player.

They aren't going to show any of the prerecorded parts of the Main Event for 3 months, then show them for 2 weeks and have 2 weeks off before the actual final table. So, even though you can go out and get coaching, it's not like you're going to be able to specifically target a person's game until after that 3 month period.

Even then how many hands per player do you suppose they are going to show? 10? 15? Surely no more than that and I think it's unlikely that anyone is going to be able to totally extrapolate a player's style from that small a sample.

Since you're not finishing up the viewing until 2 weeks before the final table I don't see it being that bad a deal. I do think that Harrah's or ESPN or someone in charge of the ME should be forced to purchase insurance for every final table member to, let's say, whatever the money is for 4th place just in case something happens that was out of the player's control.

Did someone from the BCS go to work @ the WSOP?

Bump

I've changed my mind, I thought it was a stupid idea, but I never realised the delay would create THIS much interest in Poker - it's almost here, I cant wait to see whether my favourite player wins in a couple of weeks!

Who else is as excited as me!

I'm actually pretty excited. I've caught almost every episode.. and the ones that I missed, they post on YouTube anyways .

2 more weeks.

I'm not sure I would be able to handle the delay if I was at the final table.It must be hard enough to sleep and what not knowing the next day you will be playing for the championship, let alone having to wait a couple of months.

I enjoy listening to a lot of poker related podcasts. I keep realizing that I will already know who will win. I'm thinking I might just have to avoid listening and reading anything about poker for a couple of days.

I'm excited for poker. I think this will be the shot in the arm it needs, I booster shot per se.

At the very least they've been successful in keeping the poker community talking about the WSOP long after the rest of the series finished.

Think back to last year - there were a few days of "ZOMGZ Jerry Yang is such a donk I can't believe he won" discussions and then by mid-August everyone had well and truly moved on. This year, we haven't really stoppoed talking about it and it's four months later.

The thought of having a guarentee of having at least $900,000 in 4 months would help the wait some.