[morlspin]

Vicky Coren

So Howard is basically saying that it's worth the hassle, the many potential dangers, the loss of momentum, the further break with tradition, the removal of the opportunity for people who played the main event to stay and watch the final, etc., because it means more media attention?! There's not enough media attention on poker already?! The WSOP isn't already making enough mistakes by changing itself to suit television rather than inviting television just to cover what it is (eg. incredible delays during the hand-for-hand when everyone has to wait for the cameras) ?
You have to bear in mind, Howard is coming at it from the point of view of being one of those people who has chosen heavy self-promotion and a big TV push - nothing wrong with that, but for a lot of people the media spotlight is actually a down side of modern poker, and many would argue that it's in some ways better to come 2nd or 3rd in the WSOP than win it, because you still get a few million but you don't have to be recognized everywhere you go!
Personally I think it's an annoying and stupid change, breaking the essential nature of what a poker tournament IS. It's like the Olympic Committee deciding that, in order to maximize coverage, they were going to run the first three legs of the 4 x 100m relay and then stop, put marks on the track, and the final runners would come back and sprint the last 100m six months later after everyone else had gone home.