As others have said, part of the appeal of tournaments to fish is that it becomes quite possible to go on autopilot and have a chance to win it all.

Changing the main event to pot limit would certainly make it more a contest of skill, but it also would certainly up the level of competition, as it would drive fish away. Is that really what we want to do?

If you want to play postflop, stick to cash games. It's really that simple.

Fair enough. Another good suggestion that won't, in practice, ever happen unfortunately.

Ahh, the typical brilliant articulation of a netboy. One who, like most, doesn't understand that I merely think it's funny how desperate you all are to believe you're good at something, and how sensitive you are to any suggestion otherwise, such that I'm drawn to busting your balls after you reach a certain dizzying level of egomania as you did in the Ike/Sebok thread.

Netboy, thinking hard: hmm, this MrMore guy said something I don't like so I'll call him...I'll call him...oh, yeah, "dumb." Yeah, that's a good one. Dumb.

Brilliant.

Netboys should LOVE shootouts. It would give you an edge. Just as HU would. Although I'm sometimes given to making fun of you all, I very much respect netboys skills at shorthanded and HU play. The poker gods probably have an equation with only the variables "# of players" and "BBs per stack" which could give us all the midpoint where netboys and real players are at 0EV in NL.

Let me defy conventional wisdom make these key points:

A luckbox champion doesn't attract new players or spectators.

Most people, even losers, want to win on their merits, not on luck. Not just in poker, but in anything.

The typical loser thinks he's skillful and blames bad luck for his consistent losses. Not the other way around.


If these statements are true, having another Moneymaker/Yang isn't going to get more players in the game.

It could be the opposite. For many people, Jerry Yang winning is just confirmation that poker is all luck, and therefore not worth pursuing.

So a Main Event donkfest could actually hurt poker by turning off regulars more than it attracts beginners (which it may not do at all!).

Or as Negreanu says, "It's bad for poker."


Don't forget this: "Rounders" built the poker boom at least as much as any kind of Moneymaker Effect. And in "Rounders," poker was presented as a game of skill. And this is what made us love it. We all wish we were as skillful as Matt Damon when he called the judges' hands blind.

So we are attracted by skill, not luck. In fact, it is the luck in poker that allows so many of us to believe we are skillful, when, in fact, most of us are somebody's fish.


A more skillful Main Event would be better for poker. Here's why.

We should be interested in the Main Event for two reasons (aside from playing in it): 1. Pure spectator entertainment on our part. 2. As a means to recruit more players into poker.

But these two reasons are intimately related.

From the point of view of entertainment, we must appeal to two audiences: People who know poker and people who don't.

Watching a skillful (and pro-filled) ME can be entertaining to both types of audiences, whereas a donk fest may turn off knowledgeable viewers.

Therefore, a more skillful ME can only increase its entertainment value overall.

And with greater entertainment value, recognizable pros, and the greater legitimacy, respect and awe that a skillful game can bring, poker will move deeper into the mainstream and more people will decide to play the game.


So I say, crank up the skill level and get us all dreaming and believing that some day we could be that good -- not, "that lucky."

very very good post dismalstudent99.

and i totally agree. i played 5carddraw as a kid and have alwyas loved games in any shape.


back in 2003 ididnt even know onlinepoker existed and it never occured to me to ssee if it did.

what made me interested was watching wpt and i found it incredibly exciting and thats what made me start playing.
and it was seeing people make plays and seeing people win with skill(sure its a final tabel donakment with alot o luck but you can still see skill is a factor) that turned me on.
like daniel negreanu calling out a persons exact hand was a real wow-moment.

and some idiot winning main event would have had the opposite effect on me, like "ok theres some skill involved perhaps but still any donkey ca win so the skillfactor is too small too really matter".


so very good post and very true.

ESPN doesn't need to go this route. They don't care if poker is dropped from the programming schedule.
WPT should restructure their tournaments. Hardcore viewers want to see stars and postflop play.

MrMore,

Knife...your wrist...

at your discretion please

thanks

limp on button comment was hilarious

They should make it like those old Party speed tournaments - 3 minute blind levels. Maybe it a 4 hour tourney cause it's hard to go 13 hours on the first day for Christ sakes.

"My fist, your mouth.

My gun, YOUR FACE!."

This one is an easy "WTF DN."

The Main Event is what it is. A freezeout.

Lobby to change the title of "World Champion" to some other event, or to multiple events, or to add events, as people have been doing.

But don't F with the underlying structure of the ME. Instead, have them change the stupid payout schedule at/near the final table, and get some damn playing cards that people can read, and some chips that don't all look alike, and don't put people in a goddamn tent that keeps blowing over.

im in

Daniel is beyond right here. Poker would gain tons of publicity, respect, and fish if the final table of the ME was 80% pros.

The fish love big name players because they like to follow them like athletes.

The WSOP ME is our biggest tool to draw in new players, and it is being blundered away every year that fish win it.

However, the only thing worse could be if 9/10 final table players are 19 year olds using perfect pushbot strategy.

I wish all of you guys realized how ****ty poker is. So many of you are obsessed with it and dont understand how miserable the people who play it are. Also, Daniel is lol as usual. He needs more fish in the game so he can start beating it again...