Does who wins main event even matter "for poker" anymore?

[Zetack]

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Who HASN'T heard of poker by now, do you think that who wins the main event is really going to bring that many new players to the game from the US, or get them playing more? Best chance to bring new players is for a foreigner to win, like Yang. Thoughts?

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Of course it matters, whether or not it brings new players to the game.

Do you think there is anyone who hasn't heard of coca-cola? And yet in 2006 the company spent at least 2.5 BILLION dollars on advertising. And more was spent by bottler and affiliates, to the tune, as far as I can tell, of over 5 billion dollars.

We're not going to see another Moneymaker effect, I don't think. But the ability of the WSOP to generate interest, and who wins is part of that, does continue to matter to poker.

--Zetack