Yes... you read that correctly.
It is a quote from Daniel Negreanu's blog regarding the recent 2006 WSOP schedule released by Harrahs. Here is the rest from Full Contact Poker:
"Poker is dying. Not hold'em of course, but poker as we once knew it is becoming extinct because the people in control aren't interested in helping poker flourish, they have a bottom line to think about that takes precedence over all else. I have no idea who is at fault so I won’t place blame. I’d sure like to know, though, who- who exactly is making these decisions?"
His primary concern is that the powers that be at Harrah's / ESPN have once again decided to increase the number of Hold 'Em events while getting rid of more Omaha and Stud based games in next years WSOP... and for the second year in a row they've completely neglected all mixed games.
After watching this years broadcast of the 2005 WSOP this doesn't really surprise me. ESPN spends an inordinate amount of time showcasing the long-shot amateurs and loud mouth luckboxes in order to boost raitings. I would imagine the ratings for the televised events other than Hold 'Em are far below their goal as well which adds to the "bottom line" logic Daniel mentions. It is a shame that Harrah's / ESPN has turned an event with a celebrated grassroots tradition that catered to poker players into just another packaged branding machine... although I suppose it isn't very surprising either.
Thoughts?
(Full schedule for the 2006 WSOP is listed below in Cmitch's blog titled WSOP 2006 Schedule)
Loopy
Posts
cmitch
1:20 PM
Have you been to a home game lately with people playing 7 card stud variations? Nope. Me either. When I was in college not many knew what holdem was, poker was stud and draw poker in most peoples mind.
I want Harrahs to add a Go Fish event to the WSOP, then I might have a chance. Oh wait, ESPN does make this year's main event seem like it is Go Fish for the Pros.
cmitch
1:22 PM
I couldn't agree with you more.. While I love Hold'Em, I also loved watching the pros play Stud, Razz, Triple Draw or any mixed games.
WillWonka
1:35 PM
I wonder if this is an opportunity for another casino to start a World Series-like event focusing on non-Hold'em games, like the Omaha Championship and so forth. Or even just start a series of tourneys with NLHE and the other games right before/after the WSOP. I'm sure that a lot of the pros would head over just to show Harrahs that they want mixed games. And where the pros go, so goes the cameras. And where the cameras go, so goes the fish and casual players.
Um, that idea is officially patented.
Jordan
6:01 PM