15 Nov 10

metamorphosis: "Change Has Come"

With this motto America celebrates the change. Bush is the past, Obama is supposed to fix it. However, not only the mother country of poker is changing, the poker world does so as well.

Written by meta

The Moneymaker Effect

In the past ten years, the game developed into a multi-billion business and creates millionaires almost weekly. In 2003, Chris Moneymaker (picture on the right) literally ignited the boom. As a 'poker nobody', he made his way over an online qualifier to the Main Event of the WSOP and won $2.5 million. Literally over night, he became the prototype of an ambitious amateur player who struck gold. Ever since, thousands upon thousands of people joined and join the events of the WSOP, breaking record after record from year to year.

To give you an idea: In 1998, 350 players entered the Main Event of the WSOP. Back then, it was already a rather high number, which was clearly topped for the first time in 2000 with 512 starters. In 2001, 613 people played the Main Event. In 2002, it were 18 players more, and in 2003, the year of Chris Moneymaker, it were 839 already after all. However, after his win, nothing remained the same.

2,576 players came together in the Binion's in 2004. Too many for the birthplace of the WSOP. In 2005, the move into the Rio was made, and a further record was established with 5,619 participants, which was immediately broken again in 2006, when Jamie Gold emerged victoriously. 8,773 players generated a prize pool of $82,512,162 - to this day a record, as was Gold's winnings of $12 million.

The UIGEA puts a Break on the Roll

Such prize monies with never-before seen sums created an increasing amount of attention, and poker began to be aired on TV during the prime time. The acceptance in the population was probably never so high, but then came the dampener. Still in the year of Gold's record win, the US government under Bush passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) legislation. It prompted the American banks to prevent the transactions of their customers with the online gaming sites. However, it were those online sites which had a considerable share of the WSOP's success with their ever-increasing qualifiers.

The consequences for the industry were enormous. To avoid possible statutory requirements, listed platforms shut out American users and so lost a majority of their customer base. The share price of the WPTE hit rock bottom, and does no longer reflect the real value of the company by far according to analysts. Consequently, almost the whole industry had to reposition itself.

The WSOP needs Money

As did the WSOP. In Year 1 after the UIGEA, "only" 6,358 players still signed up for the Main Event - about 2,250 players less than a year before. However, not only in this area did the WSOP have to endure sharp declines. The TV ratings and thus the TV monies no longer flowed easily within the industry. The consequence: The officials started looking for new money sources.

After all, a WSOP is not really cheap, as the many dealers in the Rio (picture on the left) cost a lot of money - let alone the floor personnel, security, catering, etc. Such was also the argumentation when it was decided to play out the final table only in November, so four months after the actual WSOP. Even Daniel Negreanu - a member of the player council and thus jointly responsible for this decision - took sides for the idea in his blog and argued that one has to face the new incidents and accept the decision.

Thus the final table was disconnected from the Main Event to use it as optimally as possible media-wise and sell the TV pictures exclusively. During the long break, clips of the already played WSOP were aired, and the live finale was thus the crowning conclusion of this Series.

The WSOP, and so Harrah's - or rather its owners, the two investment- and associate companies Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group - can probably call the new finale format a success. At least the published numbers give this impression. The market share increased by almost 50% to 1.9% in comparison to 2007, or 2.4 million viewers on average. Thus the interest in the American population, the so important market for poker, was re-established.

Good for Poker?

But is it also good for poker, as Eddy Scharf likes to ask? Or is a connected Main Event the better choice after all? The matchless atmosphere, which ruled over 50 events in the Rio and spread itself across the weeks, can hardly be preserved.

However, is this really necessary? The spirit at the final table was still very good. Naturally, this was mainly due to the numerous fans of the different finalists. Dennis Phillips himself had about 300 people hollering for him on the rail. In the heads-up, Peter Eastgate's (picture on the right) supporters always created the vibe and loudly celebrated each won hand of the Dane.

Many bystanders from Las Vegas also found their way into the Rio, and the poker greats could be found at the rails as well. Thus the atmosphere was really not worse, however it was obviously not so unique anymore, as the masses of poker fans were lacking which wandered through Las Vegas during the WSOP.

Nonetheless, one must not forget that all of us profit from this change in the end: Poker is indeed more present in the media again. The public interest has significantly increased as was measured by the TV ratings. New fishes will be bred, and especially in the USA such lobbying, as it currently takes place, is very helpful.

However, if each EPT- or WPT event were to disconnect the final table, it would turn into a real chaos. Events like the Aussie Millions, or the EPT Grand Finale could get the idea to imitate the format and so also point out to their special status within the season. Therefore, let us hope that this example doesn't become the thing.

What do you think? Vote!

What do you think? Was it a good idea to disconnect the final table from the Main Event? Vote and discuss in the forum:

Community Forum: "Change has come" - Vote about the WSOP Final Table Format 2008