So where are these cheap satellites to get into the Main Event? And what do consider cheap?

Getting ten grand as a prize means it can't be very cheap. Moneymaker paid a hundo, that was money back then.

A couple hundred bucks for a 10k seat is cheap.
I've even seen 100 dollar satellites to 1k satellites for the main.

While live poker has moved way slower than online poker it's still a lot different than in 2005 and it's not bc of UIGEA.

It's just way easier for anyone even halfway serious about poker to at least get halfway decent at it. While technology made this possible as well as making online games way worse it all had an effect live. In 2005 people weren't dicking around on their smartphones watching Netflix while they played etc.

The party atmosphere would have long wore off from poker with or without UIGEA. UIGEA also has nothing to do with higher stakes games either drying up or going private which causes a trickle down effect of better players into lower stakes games.

Cheap satellites aren't the only thing that determine poker growth how strong the dream is. In 2010 I could go to borgata on a Tuesday at 2am and there would be 5-6 5/10 games running with people 40 complete donks across the table. UIGEA didn't stop that either. And it takes a hell of a lot more money to keep losing in those games than some 50 dollar satellites.

Poker unfortunately just doesn't provide an atmosphere in most cases to a fun drinking gambly environment these days and that's bc of the people playing it it not bc of the government.

Now compare that to the rest of the casino where people punt in the pit. It's a totally different environment. But yea poker would be as big as the NFL lol.


You can only sell bullshit for so long.
And a lot of people were already realizing they'd never be pros when UIGEA hit.

They had the same thing in 2006, an Expo in the Pavilion Room.
2006 was the peak anyway, being the Jamie Gold year and the most online qualifiers ever.

Moneymaker was a lot less than $100. 40 maybe.
I got in for 2006 from a $3 satty on Party. (well, back to back sattys. $3 to a $320)

Wow, parlayed a $3 satellite {from the comfort of your home} to get into the main event. Those kind of conditions should have helped the growth of poker no matter how good the players are now.

Some people might find it funny (especially in other countries) that there are people who believe an activity that exists in over 100 countries (as shown in post 19) doesn't have the potential (in an environment with no government interference) to be as popular as an activity (NFL) that basically exists in one country.

That was a full package too.
The package was a minimum of a week at the MGM Grand, (IIRC) $1500 cash to cover travel, which more than covered my flight from the UK and insane extras.
When I got to my room, a huge Party branded suitcase was delivered containing so much stuff. Tshirts, polos, regular shirts, caps, 'survival pacls' of redbull, mints etc, a Party branded backgammon set and a Palm Pilot PDA preprogrammed with the WSOP schedule.
I still use the suitcase today for longhaul travel.

Nah everyone finds your take on it hilarious.

190k entries isn't 190k people. It's a bunch of people playing a bunch of tournaments and many of them rentering a bunch of times.

Your fantasy about what poker would be today is amusing though.

Lol, those were the days. Yeah, the UIGEA really destroyed that dream.

Yes, either $40 or $86 or some other number under $100. I could swear I saw $93 somewhere, maybe not

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Moneymaker

Yes, the $40 looks more probable, a book title from 2005...

But: https://www.espn.com/poker/story/_/i...ed-world-poker
According to this he played satellites, that is more than one, so the fairy tale cost a little bit more after all. Wonder how many he played? He couldn't have spent the full 10k could he? Probably not, let's guess, 1k? But the poker gods were on his side after that too.