August 29, 2006
Writing many news articles about
online poker and the poker
industry in general has made me
a bit opinionated as of late. In
fact, now that the 2006 WSOP
Main Event is over and a new
multi millionaire has been
crowned, I find myself looking
to next year’s event.
I have even though of some
interesting ways to make this
circuit even more popular among
online poker players, poker
players and even everyday poker
fans.
After watching and writing about
many of these events, I can’t
help but wonder what it would be
like if each major poker game
played had its very own
championship event. Why not hold
a buy in for all games like 7
card stud, pot-limit Omaha, and
of course limit hold’em and no
limit hold’em. Each of these
games could have its very own
$10,000.00 buy in tourney. Why
can’t the circuit host a
championship main event for all
types of poker games?
In fact, there should be one
tourney for each game type and
for each buy in amount. What I
am saying is that there should
really only be one $1,500.00 no
limit hold’em tourney. There is
only one
$10,000.00 no limit hold’em
tourney. We should all be able
to discern the $1,500.00 no
limit hold'em champ the same way
you can discern the Main
Event champion. Wouldn’t
this be a great idea for all
events on every level?
There needs to be a 5 card draw
event. As someone with opinions
and a penchant for poker, this
would be an event that would
appeal to so many poker players
right? This is the game many of
us grew up playing at home. It’s
was our first love in poker.
Yes, hold’em is awesome, but why
not get back to the basics of
poker? Think of how fun this
event would be to enter and
watch. There is plenty more to
this game than we all think and
showcasing it more would create
more fans.
Why not keep the $50,000.00
HORSE event? If you watched or
followed this year’s event
through the online poker rooms,
you know that it swiftly
elevated itself to becoming the
poker tourney that decided who
poker's best all around player
was. This is a valuable event.
Think of it this way. The final
table at this year’s event was
loaded with the best mixed poker
game players on the face of the
earth. Getting rid of this event
would be like taking away the
NBA All Star game. In fact, it
would be worse because poker
needs more events that showcase
talent like this one does. This
event should contain only HORSE
too.
Whether you are an online poker
player or a land based poker
player who plays in casinos or
at home with friend, you must be
in sync with my thoughts on
heads up events. The circuit
needs to include a heads up
event. I am not the only poker
player that feels this way
publicly either. The event
should include any good heads up
player too, not just bracelet
winners either. Yes the
candidates for playing in the
tourney should be limited to
proven players. I recommend
putting a high buy in price tag
on this event to make certain
the best players are in it.
Why not impose a tournament of
poker champions onto this
circuit? This would be an event
for bracelet winners only. AN
event such as this would be very
popular for TV and many TV
outlets would be happy to show
it I am certain. It would have a
ton of heavy action and contain
bracelet winners, not just the
most recognized pro poker
players – but bracelet winners.
I don’t think there should be a
limit to the number of players
participating in any event
either. This should be a new
rule for the lower buy in events
especially. Well, it should be
the case in all events, but
lower limit players should be
guaranteed they can play in
these $1,500.000 buy ins because
there so many of us out there in
the world and these events sell
out before many can enter them.
One of the main reasons poker is
what it is today is because many
currently pro players started
out just this way – playing in
low entry tourneys. I am not
certain that higher amounts of
players in any tourney would
steal this game’s integrity
either. Luck is a big part of
poker and having more people in
these events would not add or
take away any honor here. Think
of it this way, if more players
(ones with limited expenditures
especially) were able to play in
events, more interesting stories
about player beginnings would
surface and many more everyday
people would be following these
events. These are the types of
players that play poker for life
too, not just because it is
popular now.
Yes, these are only thoughts and
suggestions, but they are well
though out. If we want the WSOP
to hold its glory for unlimited
amounts of time, we must keep
changing things up. We need to
add more fuel to the fire. I am
talking about more than just
massive amounts of money at the
Main Event. For staying power, I
believe the WSOP must diversify
its player base by adding more
challenging and exciting events.
This is just my opinion and I
believe some of you will agree.
(916)
