<p>What a joke !  Who's masterplan was this ? ESPN or the Rio ?</p>

<p>Good article.  I have read most of the posts during the last few days and feel as if I am the only one that is excited to at least see how this plays out.  It has the potential to be great for poker, and if it flops they will assuredly go back to the traditional format.</p>

<p>BEST ARTICLE EVER!</p>

<p>Comparing moving the tournament from the Horseshoe to the Rio, or televising prelim events, to this change is the only absurdity in what was otherwise a really good article.</p>
<p>No other change in covering, televising, or promoting the game has provided information about how someone has been playing in the middle of a tournament.  Protecting your image while play is ongoing is indeed important, part of the "integrity" of the game.  I think it's worth screaming over.</p>
<p>Will the benefits of this change help the game, and trickle down to benefit the players, enough to sacrifice that integrity?  We shall wait and see.</p>

<p>Cabo,</p>
<p>Obviously it's not ALL that matters - but in the end, I think it will the positives (or potential for positives) outweigh the hit to the intergrity of the event.</p>
<p>-shronk</p>

<p>It remains to be seen how this will work out, but I wish all of the supporters would stop trying to sugar coat & convince everyone that this will be of any benefit to anyone in the short run. The long run? Well that remains to be seen.</p>
<p>This will be a huge potential money maker for a very small hand full of name pros as well as the corporations involved, period.</p>
<p>Buzz, sponsorships, endorsements??</p>
<p>When was the last time anyone offered anything but a very small stipend or very end loaded deal (based on finish maybe) to an unknown player in any game or event. They don't.</p>
<p>Extra cash?</p>
<p>The extra cash from the months of delay are nothing compared to what will be made by the corporations involved & again as very small group of known pros.</p>
<p>Will this help out the game? I remains to be seen. This will be a great situation for any known, bankable pro who may make the final table. Endorsement/sponsorships may be greater than 1st place money. But, Please stop trying to present this as a great thing for 99.9% of the players involved, including most of what will sure be unknown final table players. </p>

<p>Great article.  Yes, the delay isn't the most perfect solution.  Far from it.  But poker is a business, just like the NFL is a business.  If the bottom line isn't being met, if poker as a whole is waning in popularity like it is, something must change.  In 2004, a lot of the attraction to the new player watching the WSOP Main Event week to week was the mystery.  Back then, not everyone checked a site like p5 every day.  Every episode was fresh, and we were able to see hands like they were happening right at that moment.</p>
<p>Well, now the excitement is gone.  As soon as someone wins an event, especially the Main Event, the poker world knows about it.  In the case of the Main Event, easily the most watched event on the circuit, most everyone knows the winner well before it airs on television.  The mystery has disappeared.</p>
<p>It seems like the underlying effort behind the final table delay is to bring back the excitement.  Hopefully this will spark something in the average viewer who doesn't already play, and there are plenty potential customers out there.  Hopefully they will play a tournament next time they are in Vegas, or maybe make their first increasingly difficult deposit online.</p>
<p>In the long term, this helps the rest of us that have some experience.  New players are what makes poker profitable.  While I agree that a few month delay is not ideal, I don't believe that it makes the event not worth playing.  It is an effort by the powers that be to bring the excitement back to the televised Main Event, which is what caused most poker players these days to begin playing in the first place.</p>

<p>Kudo's to AJNVT for finding the "problem" that is being solved with a move. </p>
<p> Now we can get the results for free instead of watching the game taped with commercials and other placement ads.  This year want the resutls in real time we have to watch the live feed and the internet will follow behind. </p>
<p>As far as some others remarks. I hope it does benefit the top pros. They are far more entertaining than most newbie nternet players.  While the newbies are very talented they dont know how to be entertaining for TV.  I remember the WPT-PCA last year. I thought the play was awful and the show dull. </p>
<p>I would rather have a bunch of experienced TV pros and a few new hot shots.  No matter who gets to the final table there will now be TV pros behind them with inside commentary on the player they helped (remember Chan and Jamie Gold? Expect more of that.) There will be our favorite pro player, if not in the game, in the audience offering on the fly advice.  </p>
<p>People just keep an open mind. This could be very interesting.</p>

<p>the point about interest and a 'bigger prize pool' is totally moot, because players would immediately put the money into an interest bearing account after winning, and thus earn the same interest on that money.  You'd think you could do better than bank interest yourself actually.</p>

<p>ok so 10 weeks isnt 16 weeks.  Thats good news so less chance at some things happening.  Ya so if you donk ass in 6th place, your gonna be "famous" and everyone will know you.  Eh..id rather be forgotten and have immunity from being famous.  You dont remember who was at the previous final tables?  great!  You want to know everyone at the final table?  Ef that.</p>
<p>Answer this, </p>
<p>Are they gonna show every hand at the final table?  Is this gonna be a 12 hr broadcast?  Are we gonna lose our option to watch it online and see every hand?</p>
<p>Explain to me how they will benefit from becomming "famous" after we know all about them and they still lose?  </p>
<p>As a fan, i hate this..i guess as a player, eh screw it.. i still hate this.  I want my internet 12 hour live party and you shouldnt take that away from me dammit!!!!</p>

<p>How is money being added to the prize pool?</p>
<p>If they held the final table the next day as usual, and paid out that day as usual, the players would have the money 4 months earlier and could put it in an interest bearing account as well for the same period of time.</p>
<p>If actual real money is being added then that is something else, and I apologize for not being up on all of the details if this is the case.</p>
<p>sheets</p>

<p>Sheets,</p>
<p>I was assuming that A) Harrah's could get a better interest rate than the average Joe could, B) At least some of the players wouldn't get their money from Harrah's right away, and C) some of the players would neglect to put the money in any kind of interest-bearing account at all.</p>
<p>Obviously some of them would, but in the end I think there is still more money added to the prizepool than the individuals would have been able to accumulate on their on in that time.</p>

<p>You are changing the entire tournament when you do this.  Why would you mess with the integrity of the most popular poker tournament in the world?  What are the odds that the masses of players and viewers will say "oh geez, this is a fantastic idea"? I'll tell you the odds.  Diddley freakin' squat.</p>
<p>Some things in Poker are common sense, and that certainly includes playing out a tournament to it's completion without a multiple month break, even if it would bring in a little extra dough.  You're HARRAHS, I think you can sacrifice an incredibly microscopic % of your profits to keep the integrity of the tournament in tact.</p>

<p>UIGEA.  Jamie Gold.  Online Cheating scandals.  </p>
<p>When the history of the decline of poker is wrtten, this change in the WSOP ME FT schedule will be seen as just another error in a long line of misplaced bets.</p>