In a recent blog post, six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu (pictured) argued against the top-heavy $10 million guaranteed first place payout in the WSOP Main Event this year.

“I think it’s in poker’s best interest long-term to have flatter payout structures that pay more spots, while also making that min-cash worth no more than 1.5 times the buy-in,” he wrote.

To back up that reasoning, Negreanu cited a study involving a rat which sometimes received a piece of cheese for choosing a specific tube, but other times was given an electrical jolt. “They alternated between cheese and electric shock before ultimately providing the rat only electric shocks,” he said. “The rat continued down the second tube repeatedly until it died.”

In Negreanu’s opinion, a player who enters 10 tournaments with top-heavy payout structures and doesn’t cash is far less likely to continue playing than someone who occasionally cashes for the minimum.

Furthermore, Negreanu believes that reducing the min-cash award would not have any negative effect on a player’s perception of the accomplishment. “When Billy Bob goes back to his wife and says, ‘Honey, I’m in the money,’ the fact that he is guaranteed $15,000 rather than $22,000 is an afterthought. The celebration is in the win, no matter how small.”

After several years of decline, the 2014 WSOP Main Event saw an increase in participants. But Negreanu attributed that rise to the improving economy, not the “sexy” lure of an eight-figure payday. “If you look at the numbers when it comes to the economy in the last years, coupled with the refund checks from FTP arriving, things are looking up,” he said.

The Toronto native further illustrated his argument by imagining a winner-take-all Main Event. With such a structure, Negreanu estimated that roughly 150 players would buy in, with that number decreasing each year “as one guy gets rich and sucks money out of the poker economy, while 149 others end up losers.”

Negreanu realized that companies like the WSOP are a business and don’t exist to simply provide free tournaments. With that in mind, he advised poker players to think of their profession as a small business and tournament organizers as their partners. The companies hosting these events are, after all, doing so in order to make money. If those interests aren’t appeased, there would be no tournament at all.

Seeing an increase in entrants in 2014, the WSOP is not likely keen on doing away with the top-heavy structure. However, organizers have made a number of changes for this year’s series, including offering a tournament dubbed “The Colossus.” The $565 buy-in event will be the lowest that the WSOP has offered in 35 years and guarantees $5 million in prize money. Organizers expect a huge turnout of some 13,000 entries.

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