After dwindling attendance in its WPT Championship, the World Poker Tour recently decided to do away with the signature event in favor of an invite-only Tournament of Champions.

The $15,400 buy-in event will take place in Hollywood, Florida following the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown and will only be available to WPT Champions Club members and Season XIV champions. This season’s winners will receive an all-expense-paid package for the event, which includes the tournament buy-in, travel, and accommodations. Champions Club members have to pay their way in.

After the announcement, prominent industry figures took to social media to voice their mostly negative reactions to the change. Some suggested that the tournament would fall flat, as many Champions Club members might not be able to afford the five-figure buy-in.

“They must think it’s 2005 where everyone is rich and wants to beat the best to be the best or something,” Tweetedpoker pro and PocketFives member Randal RandALLin Flowers (pictured above).

Pro Matt berkey11Berkey (pictured) echoed that sentiment on his own Twitter profile, saying, “Perhaps #WPT can accommodate by lowering the buy-in to $1,500 rather than living in the dreamland where all these champs retain any wealth.”

WPT Borgata Winter Open champ Daniel wildman75Buzgon quipped that he would now be spending his buy-in money elsewhere. “Sorry poker players, that $15.4k I donate to the poker economy every year will now be donated to craps and daily fantasy sports. #thankwpt,” he said on his Twitter feed.

Others, like 2015 WSOP November Ninechip leader Joe dude904McKeehen, were completely opposed to the change. “I’m going to stick my allegiance to the WSOP and not the WPT after I saw the changes to their schedule,” he Tweeted. “This is terrible for poker.”

Poker pro David Davidp18Peters voiced his discontent as well on Twitter: “Huge joke that there’s no WPT Championship. Have a silly invitational if u want, but don’t replace it. Pretty unbelievable.” 2011 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown second place finisher Curt Kohlberg was in agreement, saying, “With all due respect, restricting the Championship is the worst idea I’ve seen since the inception of the WPT.”

Poker pro David Baker (pictured), who took second at the 2009 WPT Borgata Poker Open, took to his Twitter account with some constructive criticism. “Recently, the WPT changed the WPT Championship, its marquee event,” he said. “The recent downfall and excitement about the event led to make it a more exclusive event, when in reality they should have been trying to make it more inclusive.”

He offered several suggestions on how to make that happen. First, he would bring it back to Las Vegas, which is easy to fly in and out of.

He would bring back the $25,000 buy-in and schedule the tournament six days before the WSOP “for ease of travel.” Furthermore, Baker would create a satellite system at all WPT venues which would guarantee two seats per stop. He would also add a beginner satellite series, which would only accept entries from players who had less than a specified number of WPT wins under their belt.

Champions Club members would receive a discounted rate, but not the full buy-in. “With sponsors and hosts, [the WPT] sure could do something, even… free accommodations.” Finally, Baker would televise the final table before the first event of the WSOP with Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten as commentators.

While overall reaction has been mostly negative, it’s unclear if the WPT will follow in the footsteps of the WSOP, which has recently been doing all it can to make the changes players have been requesting.

Want the latest poker headlines and interviews? Follow PocketFives on Twitterand Like PocketFives on Facebook.