My Thoughts on WSOP ME Final-Table Delay

Well, a lot has happened in the two weeks since my previous post here at PokerListings, both for me and for poker.

As you know, I got sick before the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final. I made my way to Las Vegas and then missed the WPT Championships at the Bellagio.

It got worse for me after the WPT Championships. I won't bore you with the details, but a scoping procedure became major surgery last week.

I wasn't expecting to have a significant operation, but the doctors said they had no choice. I got out of the hospital on Sunday, and it hasn't been too fun since.

I'm doing what I've been told to do by the doctors, walking around a bit while the incision is healing. But not much sleep for me, with heavy doses of being uncomfortable and hurting.

When I see the suffering in Myanmar and Sichuan province, I know my problems aren't that major. I try to keep telling myself that, but I have still felt pretty bad and miserable all week.

So that's what's been happening with me. Now on to poker. I have to be honest with you. When I heard about the changes with the final table at the World Series, I just thought how stupid it sounded. I haven't read all of the thoughts of my peers on the forums and blogs, but let me give you my view on this change.

Lieu: Changes to Main Event good for ESPN, Harrah's; but are they good for anybody else?

I'm sure this is good for ESPN, Harrah's and their sponsors like Miller Brewing. More people will be surprised about who will win, which should turn into higher ratings. But higher ratings haven't translated into any additional tournament prize-pool money for players.

I heard that the money in the prize pool for the final table will be put into an interest-bearing account and added back to the pool, but really that is pretty meaningless. The prize pool will be shared by those at the final table anyway, so the extra money would be theirs anyway.

The issue of collusion is definitely something to consider. Every time I sit down at any poker table, I have to concern myself with the possibility of collusion. Every time, anywhere in the world. Talk to any veteran pro and you'll hear the same thing. It is second nature for us to be alert and aware for signs of this.

I actually think the problem is less with the Main Event final table than it might be in other tournaments or events at the WSOP. With hand-to-hand coverage and so much scrutiny, collusion would be more difficult for the players. Not impossible, but more difficult.

I really have two main problems with the change: something happening to players in the interim period and the change in dynamics of the entire final table when it reconvenes.

WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack: Not concerned about accidents.

Obviously, I have some new thoughts about the possibility of something physically happening to a player in the time off before the final table. A friend of mine told me that WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack wasn't too concerned about this; that anything can happen to anyone at any time.

He's right, of course.

In any competition, a participant can have an accident, get sick, sustain an injury. But this is an unnaturally long break for people playing for a large sum of money.

Think about my current health problems as an example. If the WSOP Main Event had played in February and March and I had made the final table, I probably wouldn't be able to play now if it started next week. Unlucky me, I know, but things like this are possible.

The second problem is simply how much will change in that interim period when it comes to the players and the environment they are in. I don't think coaching is that big of an issue; at least, it is accessible to everyone.

Every player at the final table will have the same opportunity to receive coaching. I know I will huddle with John Phan, Patrik Antonius and my other buddies to plan and practice if I make the final table (and if they don't!).

PA: Expect a huddle if Liz makes the final table.

It's more than coaching, though. To me, what Harrah's has done is really create two different events: The WSOP Main Event tournament (where they play a massive tournament over two weeks to reach nine finalists) and the WSOP ME SNG, a single-table tournament where nine new players come together with different chip counts to play for first-ninth place.

Is it a change to the tournament? Of course. I think it makes it a very different type of tournament.

Is it OK for me just not to like making such a huge change to the biggest event in my profession? Think about this for a second. Harrah's has been running WSOP Circuit events since the World Series left Las Vegas last summer, as well as launching the WSOP Europe tournaments.

Why not run a trial at one of these tournaments if you're going to make this big a change?

Annette Obrestad is a terrific new player, an online star before she won the WSOP Europe event last September. If they gave the final-table participants eight weeks off before sitting back down to play for the $2m top prize, would it have been fair to her?

Whether it would have been fair or not to her, I think it would have been a very different final table. Many of the players had no cashes in a live tournament prior to reaching that final table. You can bet they would have known a ton about Annette with eight weeks to prepare.

Would have been a different story for Betfair Poker pro Annette Obrestad if WSOPE final table had been delayed.

In fact, it might have even had different players at the final table. Gus Hansen went out in 10th place, and maybe he would have made it through the final-table bubble.

My point is that it would have been different. I don't doubt that Annette would still have had a great shot to take down the title, but everything would have been different for the other eight players at the table.

Different for the sake of being different isn't a good enough reason for me when we're talking about the biggest event in my profession. I really haven't heard any compelling reason why we needed to make such a drastic change to the Main Event.

Of course, I've been a little under the weather recently, so maybe I missed something.

Again, sorry I took some time off from my friends here at PokerListings. I'll be focused on healing for the tournaments coming up and will have lots of down time until then.

Stop by lizlieu.net and check out www.Chilipoker.com where I'll be playing. As always, thanks for all the comments. I missed you guys, and I'll be back soon.

Cheers!

-- Liz Lieu
Pro Poker Player- Poker Diva

More Blogs from Liz Lieu:

• Chiu the Grinder Comes Out on Top
• Not All Gowns and Sunshine
• Submarined by Fish in Monte Carlo
• High Hopes in the Lap of Luxury