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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!

    Poker- World Series final table to take 4 months to complete

    Not sure how many poker fans had heard about this.

    When the final 9 players at the World Series Main Event are determined in mid-July, they will shut the tournament down and then bring the players back in mid-November to conclude the final table. This will allow ESPN to broadcast the final table action only hours after it happens making the result much more suspenseful.

    A piece of me thinks this is kinda cool, as it was a bummer in recent years to watch the ESPN broadcast and know that lousy players Jamie Gold and Jerry Yang would win the whole thing. Still, the potential for problems/abuse with a 4 month break before the final table is really troubling.

    It would easily be possible for players to design signals to each other for their mutual benefit. I hate the idea that everyone at the final table will be able to watch the broadcast and learn about their opponent's playing styles by watching hole-card cameras. And what happens if something happens to someone over those 4 months. Can you imagine if Doyle Brunson was at that final table and he got sick or something and could not play for the bracelet 4-months later?!?! That is just wrong!!

    Well, I guess this is the price for poker becoming a bigger deal in the world of entertainment.

    --Jason "I am planning on going out to Vegas this June/July and playing in a few Series events... though not the main event" Evans

  2. #2
    I curious how the Main Event is going to do this year, the entrants in the Main Event were down significantly last year to 6300 from 8800. Part of it may have been scheduling, because they have changed the start date as the years have gone by. They also added several more events, perhaps those drew away some entrants hoping to win their way into the Main Event, etc. Or perhaps Texas Hold'em jumped the shark a couple years ago?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    Quote Originally Posted by YmoBeThere View Post
    I curious how the Main Event is going to do this year, the entrants in the Main Event were down significantly last year to 6300 from 8800. Part of it may have been scheduling, because they have changed the start date as the years have gone by. They also added several more events, perhaps those drew away some entrants hoping to win their way into the Main Event, etc. Or perhaps Texas Hold'em jumped the shark a couple years ago?
    What happened was there were a lot fewer online satellite winners in the main event last year, which is why the total number of folks buying in was smaller. When congress put the clamps on internet gambling/poker, it dramatically reduced the number of people who could qualify for the Main Event on-line.

    Folks who follow the poker industry actually think last year's 6000+ entries was a sign of great growth as there were far more people who actually bought in as opposed to folks winning an on-line satellite to get in. I think the expectation is for an even larger field this year, though I don't think anyone knows what to expect.

    Frankly, I prefer something smaller as it makes it at least a little bit easier for a pro or a good player to win. Frankly, Jamie Gold and Jerry Yang make Chris Moneymaker look like a poker genius... and that is really saying something.

    --Jason "Hachem and Raymer were legit champs and are great players, no question about that" Evans

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Also -- you couldn't win a "ticket" to play inthe WSOP online (or elsewhere) last year. I'm not sure if the gov't or Harrah's made the rule, but essentially, if you won your way into the WSOP via satellites, you didn't get a seat into the main event as before, you actually got the $10,000 cash. A lot of people just kept the cash and didn't show to the Main Event.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    Quote Originally Posted by A-Tex Devil View Post
    Also -- you couldn't win a "ticket" to play inthe WSOP online (or elsewhere) last year. I'm not sure if the gov't or Harrah's made the rule, but essentially, if you won your way into the WSOP via satellites, you didn't get a seat into the main event as before, you actually got the $10,000 cash. A lot of people just kept the cash and didn't show to the Main Event.
    Really? I had not heard that. I do not doubt you but wwant to know more about it-- Do you have any citations on that?

    --Jason "I hate online poker-- I have no feel for the game" Evans

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Boston, MA

    Photo

    Jason,

    I can't see all of your photo...but you clearly have a J,10 in hand, and on the board I can see a J, 10. Was there another J or 10 on the table for a boat?

    I ask...because personally, I HATE, getting two pair on the flop. To me, it is usually always bad. You have to stay in, and your hand really isn't all that strong (anything 3 of a kind and up beats you). Plus the only way it gets stronger is if you match up a boat, and you only have 4 cards that give you that. With two pair and J high, you also lose to any other two-pair with a Q, K or Ace as the high pair.

    I've played a long time, and I think my odds when I get two pair on the flop is something like 70% lose, 30% win - and they may be worse.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    I can't recall what was in that photo. I just grabbed it off the internet, I was not there. I made it my avatar last summer when all of us were discussing the World Series Main Event and I have now kept it as my avatar for like 9 months.

    It is impossible to know how much you should like or dislike 2 pair without knowing more about the hand. How many other players are in? What other cards are on the board? How are other players betting?

    Personally, I like 2 pair a lot. A well-disguised 2-pair, like a suited J-10 or a weak A-5 that catches both the ace and the 5 on the flop, can be a dominant hand in a lot or circumstances against a single pair. Plus, you may lament you odds of getting to a full boat (only 4 cards) but your odds of that nearly unbeatable boat are far better than the odds that someone with one pair gets to 3 of a kind. Also, your 2 pair that becomes a boat beats a straight or a flush while the trips lose to straights and flushes. Finally, whew, have I seen a lot of guys go bust on trips!! I rarely see anyone but a short-stack go bust on two pair.

    --Jason "just my opinion, I like 2 pair" Evan

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    Really? I had not heard that. I do not doubt you but wwant to know more about it-- Do you have any citations on that?

    --Jason "I hate online poker-- I have no feel for the game" Evans
    http://tuleythejournalist.viewfromve...ain-event.aspx

    "As expected, the 6,358 entries is down from last year's record of 8,773 due to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that has made it more difficult for poker players to fund online accounts. An added effect is the UIGEA has prohibited Harrah's, the host of the WSOP at the Rio, from accepting entries from third parties. In the past, online poker companies could sign up people who qualified on their sites, but this year the sites had to give the money to the players and many of them have taken the money and run instead of using it to enter the Main Event."


    Best link I could find, but I found out last year from a buddy who won his way in online and was given a $10,000 check from full tilt, to his surprise.

  9. #9

    Kinda like it...

    I have mixed emotion's about the delayed final table.

    I'm excited to watch it "live" without having to avoid news reports, blogs, and conversations with other players. I hope it brings some excitement and the element of surprise to the final table.

    I'm not worried about players developing schemes to play against other opponents. I hope, and think, at this level of tournament play the players will keep dishonesty at the bluff level.

    I do find it troubling that users get to go back and study tape. Four months if a far cry from the two weeks Division Champs get to prepare for the Super Bowl and I think it will change the dynamics of play at the final table. Whether it's better or worse remains to be seen.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Boston, MA

    Two Pair

    Jason,

    You are correct, of course, with the odds being in your favor. I agree completely that if your two pair involve an Ace or a King pair that changes things big time.

    But for me, I hate the lower two pair situation. You almost always have people who have called for the flop with high cards (and maybe even a low pair), and there's always the risk that they get a three of a kind.

    It's just funny. There are hands that everyone loves and everyone hates. Me, I love A,5 suited, and I always stay in on Q, 10 (mainly because one year playing Let It Ride - yes a terrible game when you look at the odds), I was delt a Q,10,8 suited, and then the two cards turned over were a J and 9 also suited. Won $5 grand on a $16 bet.

    But middle cards paired on the flop (or even worse if you have 8,7 or something on the big blinds and get to see the flop with a check) and you pair up...It just always seems to turn out badly for me.

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