Screw the ME, 50k Horse should now be the new ME ?

[belloc]

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NL Hold'em should be the event. Buy-in HAS to increase. Maybe even to $30K.

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Ugh, this again. Ok, I'll bite (again): since a very small percentage of players pay their way in, how is upping the buyin going to change things?

Increasing the buyin would just mean that online sites (and other groups hosting qualifiers) will have to run more and deeper satellites to generate the buyin revenue for each entrant. But they'd be more than happy to do this, because more qualifiers means more vig. So any donk could still qualify for $6 or whatever, he just has to make it through more people to get there. Hopefuls might have to start trying to qualify in September instead of in February, but the numbers will still be there.

It would maybe *slow* the increase in number of players from one year to the next, but it certainly won't by any stretch make it an exclusive event.

[J.A.K.]

Even if the HORSE event becomes the "unofficial" championship game, online sats will pump it full of players soon enough and the same gripes will apply. I think you need a reasonable buy-in championship (by today's standards) highly publicized each year to encourage new fish and help sustain the overall poker dynamic. The 10k ME satisfies this and there is no illusion (anymore) that the winner is the best poker player in the world. It's hard to imagine Doyle's prediction of 40,000-50,000 entrants in another decade (logistically implausible, online poker's precarious legal position, etc.) but I would say that is definitely beyond critical mass.

[Scorcho]

Cap the entrants at 10,000 players for $10,000 each.

All 10,000 players will then have to Ro-Sham-Bo with Phil Gordon. Beat him in a best of 5 series and you gain entry into the ME. Lose to him and you're going home.

[Krazwell]

for the amount of money being put into poker for marketing / sponsoring pros, you'd think its about time there was a sponsored prize pool for the main event.

That way, they could stick with NL, the field can be limited to top notch players, some rankings / selection criteria put in place (think golf majors), and the prize propped up so that so its still the main event prize pool.

Also with this type of format it would be much more TV worthy as most of the tables would have name players, the field smaller...they could show a lot more play and still appeal to the non-purist viewers

The drawback is it limits participation by more casual players who pour lots of money into satallite qualifiers etc for a shot at wsop...maybe the solution is another tournament for those folks that hands out a bracelet, has a massive field and still a very large prize pool.

I think it'dbe interesting to have one event that starts internet based....and moves to vegas for the final 3 days or something. have 4 days online the first week of wsop to narrow field. let eveyone make travel arrangements for later in the moneth to finish. I guess not a whole lot different than what happens today except that all players start play the same way...in a massive online field w/ rebuys thatd attract some interesting talent.

Anyway I just think the participation is good so having a big event accessible ot amateurs is good...but we all want to see the best playing the main event...

[spamhead]

Have $10K super satellites around the country, top 10% finishers of each get invited to the ME.

Let the online sites do satellites for buy ins to the $10K Supers.

That will ensure a stronger field for the new $50K or $100K ME.

[Austiger]

NLHE is the caddilac of poker. The other games are just boring to a lot of people. The Main Event will always be the world championship. Making HORSE the championship just b/c it has only the best players and tests their skills in a wider variety of events is not the point. The point is to give the people what they want in a championship. The thrill of the ME is unmatched and never will be in poker.

[kumarshah]

HORSE ftw

[luckyharr]

I liked Chip Reese's comment about Limit vs. No Limit after his HORSE victory. He said the difference between the good players and bad players in limit is the good players take the correct lines and extract more bets with their good hands and lose less when behind than the bad players. This small advantage multiplies itself out hand after hand, day after day, and eventually the best players will rise to the top since they aren't going to be crippled or knocked out by one unlucky hand. That made a lot of sense. (Note: It may have been his Circuit interview, not sure)

Unfortunately, I don't think this excites the casual fan.

The 50K champ will be the serious poker player's champion, but the ME champ will get the publicity.