Poker Discussion
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By Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY You've just made the final table in July in the Main Event at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. You're one of nine players with a shot at millions. You're hot. Now you have to wait until Nov. 9 for the next hand to be dealt. No problem, says two-time Main Event champion Johnny Chan, who welcomes the WSOP's move to delay the final table to facilitate a Nov. 11 ESPN telecast within hours of the tournament's finish. MORE ON HIATUS: 117-day wait will allow for 'almost virtually real time' telecast "Poker is a game of skill. The hands are random. … It's how you play your hand. I don't believe in hot streaks," Chan says. Past final tables have been played in July, with ESPN airing its taped show in November. Chan says the new format will allow players to connect with sponsors who "come to them and say, 'Hey, wear this patch or wear this logo. We'll give you X amount of dollars.' " While poker pro Daniel Negreanu also applauds the timetable, he says it will make for a "different dynamic" at the final table. "You're going to see some really kind of more sophisticated play," he says. The WSOP is a 55-event series of tournaments that begins May 30. ESPN will begin airing taped broadcasts of various events July 22. Negreanu expects players at the final table to monitor those. "They're going to watch the ESPN broadcasts and go, 'Oh, did you notice that? When he does this, he's bluffing,' " Negreanu says. He says players also can get coaching. He likens it to Super Bowl coaches getting two weeks to make a game plan: "Great players and amateurs alike will have an opportunity to really devise schemes and plans for how they're going to play." In a news release issued by PokerStars, an online poker site, 2004 Main Event champion Greg Raymer says he is torn about the new format because of the potential for coaching. "It might be huge for the continued growth of poker; however, the down side is this long gap allows the players to become completely different people between the time they make the final table and when they play it," says Raymer, a member of Team PokerStars. For ESPN, there also will be a change in the dynamic. The title figures to be won in the early hours of Nov. 11, with the two-hour telecast of the final table set for 9 p.m. ET. "The champion will be crowned on the day of air. We're very excited about this change," ESPN senior producer Jamie Horowitz says. ESPN will air a special Nov. 4 showing what the players have done between the July determination of the final nine and the final table. "We want to detail that journey," Horowitz says. What if something happens that precludes a player from playing at the final table? The WSOP has accounted for that. A player who does not appear will have his chips "blinded off," which means they will be paid into mandatory bets for each hand. When a competitor's last chip is played, he will be paid for where he finishes. Two-time Main Event champion Doyle Brunson would prefer each player to be allowed an alternate, "somebody that's not considered to be a player with abilities above their own." Though Brunson, 74, has reservations about the delay being "overkill," he'd have no qualms about having to deal with it. "No, I'll try to hang on another four months," he said, laughing.
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sounds funk, but i suppose its good for viewing purposes...
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this is completely ridiculous
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owl52
(Uzbekistan)
3,925
Posts.
Joined
06-06-2006.
05-01-2008 2:13 AM
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In reply to
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why the fuck is ESPN running the WSOP?
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i am guessing they paid harrah's a lot of money
retarded idea FTR
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Seriosuly GTFO wsop
EDIT: This is really fucking irritating me the more I think about it.
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Assuming I'm the first one to post who is playing in the main event, I'm pretty pissed about this because I've already made plans on making the final table and I don't want to have 4 months of hype about me being the 2nd best player left (menlo will have a slight edge) and then busting 9th.
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This was talked about on PokerroadRadio a little while back and they mentioned that it was not just ESPN bullying this decision on the WSOP or Harrah's. A lot of people were involved in the decision and it was largely seen as something that was good for the growth of poker. Personally I am torn, but there are definitely positives to this decision that deserve consideration before writing it off as utterly stupid.
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on the surface it seems like more of a disadvantage to the lucksacks and amateurs who got that far where the pros will be better able to dissect and then implement a plan. it takes time to do things without thinking about doing them unless you are a pro imo. ...then again there might not be any real pros left by then anyhow. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- imagine if this happened this past year, everyone would have had time to make tshirts that said "I raise to One MEEEEEELLLLLLLLION Dollars!" not to mention getting whole groups of people to wear the same outfits as their favorites. "I have a big hand, I am not sure i can lay this down."
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$$$$ makes the world go round
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OneM24
(United States)
5,127
Posts.
Joined
12-18-2005.
05-01-2008 3:01 AM
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In reply to
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They've accounted for a player not showing up? So they blind off the chip stack if they don't show? This is so ridiculous, it makes me sick to my stomach.
God forbid something detrimental happen to one of the players in the 117 day hiatus between the tourney and the final table. What happens then? "Well, if he hadn't got into the accident he would be here. Just blind him off." Fuck that. A player who may have won millions and could leave it to family and loved ones, will never have the opportunity should something seriously ill happen to them. This is just ridiculous.
ESPN being selfish fucking assholes here thinking only of the ratings they will get for a real time airing (well, almost real time), and not giving a shit about the integrity of the game or the players in general. I also think it's stupid for a player to have to finish a tourney against a player who may not have been as good 117 days earlier, but had the opportunity to consult all the top pros of the site that's going to sponsor them at the final table. This is just complete bullshit.
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