In what I believe to be the dumbest P.R/Advertising move in the entire poker industry, the people behind the World Series of Poker change to a flatter payout system.It makes no sense to me. How much did 74th place get last year? Anybody know? Anybody care? I don't understand how the WSOP folks could be unaware of what every spam-blog poster on digg already knows: Big numbers sell! People don't sit at home and dream of 147th place in the WSOP Main Event, they dream of first place. They spend weeks or months dreaming of how they are going to spend the first place prize money. They talk around the water cooler about the lotto-sized final table stakes.
For whatever reasons, the WSOP has decided that the final table payouts will be smaller this year. Each player that reaches the top will get a smaller percentage of the purse than before, with the difference being splashed around down in the "barely cashed" levels.
For example, if you were 873rd place last year, you took home $14,605. This year (assuming the same number of entries) that would be a $22,266 win. Typically I like flat payout tourneys to minimize variance a bit, but NOT when the entire value of the tournament is derived from its shear size and enormous first place prize! Last year, Jamie Gold took home $12,000,000. The winner this year would receive just over $10,000,000.
With most players expecting a smaller field this year to begin with, why is the WSOP further damaging the buzz of their brand? It makes no sense. All they've done is weaken the single most important aspect of their brand for reaching those not completely immersed in the world of poker: That big, headline-grabbing first prize.
“We discussed this concept with our poker operations team and with members of the WSOP Players Advisory Council and the consensus was that spreading the wealth is the right thing to do,” said Greenbaum, Regional V.P. for Harrah's. “The new schedules are designed to increase the rewards to players who finish in the money but don’t reach the final table.”
Congratulation, Mr. Greenbaum. You just got angle-shot by a bunch of pros looking to reduce their variance at the expense of your marketing.
I can't find the table of exact payout structure at the WSOP's main site. They reference it but don't even link to themselves. Quality.
If you want to wade through their site for details: World Series of Poker
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