2008 WSOP Main Event Delay Met With Mixed Sentiment From Poker Pros

Following an announcement that the 2008 World Series of Poker main event will be delayed three months from the rest of the WSOP play, poker professionals reacted to the news differently.  Some loved the idea, others flat out hated it.

"My bigger concern is that ESPN really has the power to influence the direction of the entire final table because the network producers are the ones choosing what footage to air leading up to the final table, and what they show or don't show could certainly help select final-table finishers and hurt others," said Mike Schneider in an interview with ESPN.

Schneider, who has won $79,528 over his poker career, compared the change to that which has occurred in other sports, most notably Major League Baseball.

"I didn't like interleague play at first, but now it doesn't bother me. I suspect that the same will hold true with this main event change, although I really wish it was only a couple weeks, rather than almost four months, before the final table plays out."

Poker player Paul Galfond stated "On one hand, the players will have time to get good sponsorship deals, but they will have to wait three months and come back again. Also, the game gets ruined a bit because all the final table members have three more months to learn how to play, to hire coaches, etc. I don't like that aspect, and I think it makes it a little unfair for the better players at the table. However, all of those players will have already won at least a million dollars. …

"Yes, some players may have a better table dynamic going than others, but the rules for the break are set out beforehand, so everyone feels the same impact. It's similar to tables breaking or Day 1 of a tourney ending."

Todd Witteles deplores the idea.

"I am surprised that there isn't more opposition so far within this group," he said.

Witteles claims that the WSOP is as much about endurance as it is who is the best poker player and who will win the most money.

"The winner of the WSOP shouldn't be about who hires the best coach, who practices the most, who manages to put together the best collusion/chip-dumping scheme or who manages to go four months without dying, getting really sick, getting seriously injured or put in jail.

{Can you play your best poker day after day in a high-pressure situation without any kind of appreciable time off? If you've been running hot, will it continue? Even if you don't believe in "running hot," do you want the psychological advantage of having been perceived running hot for a week taken away from you?"

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