[Chimera]

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I think the operative phrase here is "open-to-the-public big-buyin televised tournament?" And the key word is "televised." There are many "open-to-the-public big-buyin tournaments" that aren't televised. So many so that any tournament poker player wishing to make their living playing tournaments could do so. I believe that when you define your market, that is going to be your problem as to this argument. The fact is that you have ample income earning opportunities every week across the USA ... they just aren't televised.

This may also be where the 7 of you -- who have a lot to gain due to the "televised" aspect -- lose your connection with most other players who have little to gain (directly) by the "televised" aspect. For 99% of the poker players, being on TV is nice, but it doesn't result in any more money for them. Whether they are playing in a big buy-in tourney at the Commerce, or a WPT tournament doesn't matter to their pocketbook. I think that is why some people are attributing bad motives to you as a group and why they don't think you are representing poker players in general.


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I think the reason that the emphasis is being placed on "televised" tournaments is because these events provide far more exposure for the online cardrooms that these pros are affiliated with. Greg can obviously correct me if I'm wrong, but I seriously doubt that Pokerstars is going to pay his entry fee for some random, non-televised event at the Bellagio, Commerce, etc., since a strong performance by him in that kind of event will bring virtually no publicity to them.