Antici................................... pation

The 2008 World Series of Poker had recently gotten started when I was in Las Vegas for my vacation not long ago. And I thought that by right about now, it would be culminating in the conclusion of the Main Event.

Not so.

This year, the decision was made to play the Main Event down to the final table of nine players, and then send them all away with no outcome. This gives ESPN time to lazily spool out their coverage as they have done for the last several years, stretching the Main Event out to provide around two months of weekly content for their network. And only then, when they've finally caught up and aired everything leading up to the final table... only then will they reconvene those nine players to actually conclude the event.

That won't be happening until November.

I think this sucks royally on a few levels. Some of the reasons are mentioned in that article I linked to.

First, the down time of four months will give players time to thoroughly research the play styles of any famous competitors at the final table. This definitely goes against the "just your wits and endurance" ethic I feel the WSoP Main Event has always had.

Secondly, there was something to be said about the marathon of endurance to play the whole event in one stretch. That much concentration, that much sleep deprivation, that much focus, all in one run.... that's also part of what the event is about. Now granted, this wasn't always the case, since the size of the Main Event has increased by literally dozens of times since the poker boom of this decade. Nevertheless, I think that's part of what the event has become today, and you know this change isn't happening to "return to the ways of old." It was done because ESPN asked for it.

But there's one other thing that bugs me about this the most. This wasn't even mentioned in the article, I suppose because only nine people in the world will be affected by it: can you imagine being one of the people who actually made that final table? There you are, right on the cusp, just a few more hours to go, and you might win $9,000,000!

In four months.

Can you imagine what a hell your life would be for those four months? Would you be able to think about anything else, ever? How could you get through a day without drowning in the anxiety of thinking that there might somehow be something you could be doing to improve your chances for the battle of your life coming up in November? How could you not begin to doubt the skills that got you that far in the first place, and find yourself getting rattled and in fact sabotaging your chances to win?

Man, that would suck. I mean, don't get me wrong, if it could be me waiting four months for a chance to sit at the final table of the WSoP Main Event, don't think I wouldn't want that.

I'm just sayin'...