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Poker players have reservations about 2010 WSOP schedule
As the World Series of Poker continues to move farther and farther towards No Limit Holdem events, many in the poker world are left wondering how much longer the other forms of poker will last as WSOP tournament events.
The addition of more No Limit Holdem events is a clear sign that Harrah’s is more interested in attendance numbers –which means more tournament fees—in place of hosting the preeminent poker tournament series in the world.
The less popular forms of poker like Stud and Omaha 8 have seen their tournaments pared down to the $10,000 championship events, and the smaller buy-in $1,500 structured events—which many players loathe for their larger fields and quicker pace—all of the mid-level buy-in events have been replaced with some type of NLHE event.
Obviously, Harrah’s wants to make as much money as possible, but there comes a point where you have to sacrifice some profit for the overall long-term benefit of your product: So far it seems Harrah’s hasn’t received this message. Instead we see six, SIX, $1,000 NLHE events on the schedule:
Person A: I won the $1k NLHE bracelet in 2010
Person B: Cool. Which one???
Isn’t the point of having a World Series of Poker bracelet because it’s coveted and there are so few? Frankly, unless you win one of the $10,000 Championship Events, a WSOP bracelet is extremely watered down nowadays.
Harrah’s has also upped the fee on many of the smaller buy-in tournaments from 9% to 10%: While this may seem insignificant, when you couple this change with the increase in low-limit holdem tournaments you can see the desired result. If Harrah’s can pull in 5,000 people for the six $1k buy-in NLHE events their profits will increase by $50,000 per tournament from that measly 1% increase. Additionally, the tournaments these NLHE events have replaced tended to draw more in the 500-1,000 entrants range. So instead of $9,000 in profits from a tournament, Harrah’s has increased this number to $50,000: All at the expense of the people who enjoy playing poker games other than No Limit Holdem.
The final piece of evidence that the WSOP is strictly going for a cash grab is the format change of the $50k HORSE event, which will now be an 8-game mix –known as the Player’s Championship-- which seems to have been made so they could play the final table exclusively as NLHE –a move that caused ESPN to put the tournament back into its TV schedule.
The problem with the move is that the HORSE tournament, and accompanying trophy, was dedicated to the late Chip Reese –who won the first $50k HORSE event. Yes, the trophy and honorific will remain, but Reese did not win an 8-game mix title, he won a HORSE title, and this tournament should not have been tampered with solely to place it in the TV lineup.
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