Is the WSOP good or bad for poker? – Poker pro review

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The World Series of Poker, or the WSOP for short, is the largest and most well-known poker competition that brings together people from all over the world.

The WSOP, especially since it started being broadcast on television, has attracted countless players. The idea of ​​winning life-changing money in the Main Event has been an inspiration to many to learn poker and try the game properly.

From this point of view, the question of the title seems redundant.

How can you ask if the WSOP is good or bad for poker when it has clearly had such a positive impact on the game?

However, there are two sides to every coin, and very little in life is simply black or white.

In this article, I will try to analyze the good and the bad of the WSOP to try to find an answer.

You may or may not agree with what is written here, but this is an opinion piece after all, so that’s to be expected.

Elimination can put players out of poker forever

The World Series of Poker offers a few dozen tournaments each year.

Poker players and fans of the game will happily spend the cash to travel to Vegas, pay for accommodation and, of course, cover tournament tickets for a living.

But, it is safe to say that very few travel hundreds or even thousands of miles just for the experience. Each player sitting on the green hopes that he will somehow end up on the final table and come away the winner.

This is especially true for the Main Event, the dream of almost every poker fan.

Every year there are millions to be made, and someone will walk away with the money. But who would it be?

All the hype and glamor surrounding the World Series of Poker is good for the game at a very basic level. They help keep the poker dream alive, and without that dream, which really exploded with Moneymaker’s victory in 2003, the appeal of the game just isn’t the same.

At the same time, this idea that “anyone can win,” which has almost become an unofficial slogan for the series, is to some extent false publicity.

It is true that every player has a chance of winning a tournament, but their odds are far lower than those of someone sitting next to them, who has lived and breathed poker for two decades.

What I’m trying to say is, for some players, the WSOP can be a pretty tough wake-up call.

After saving money to travel and participate in certain events, they can quickly be eliminated from any tournaments they participate in.

This kind of experience can kill the desire to play the game, especially if someone has very high expectations. It’s not the WSOP’s fault, of course, but it’s there.

So from that point of view, the WSOP can be “bad” for poker because it can cause some players, especially amateurs and newbies, to throw in the towel.

Is this something that happens regularly? Probably not.

Most fans don’t have high expectations and try to have a good time in Las Vegas.

But it’s safe to assume that at least some of them turned away from poker after a bad WSOP experience.

TV producers love drama – players not so much

You can’t talk about the World Series of Poker without talking about TV production. Without being on TV, the WSOP would never have such a big impact on the game, so that’s a good thing.

But, like most things, it also has its downside.

It’s no secret that television producers love drama.

Watching nine people sitting around the table and playing cards is only fun if you really like poker.

But if you add a little drama into the mix, the show becomes interesting for a much larger audience.

You might think that doesn’t make much of a difference, but things aren’t that clear.

Poker has come a long way in the past two decades. Gambling is no longer seen as a shady activity enjoyed by questionable characters.

However, it is still far from perfectly acceptable.

Many people still see it as a pure game that attracts people with questionable morals.

When WSOP producers decide to spend too much screen time on drama and scandal, it can be good for audiences, but it’s bad for poker.

Someone who is just starting their poker adventure, for example, may see this and decide to find another hobby.

Not because they don’t like the game, but because they don’t want to be in such an environment. If there is so much drama and scandal at the world’s biggest poker tournament, what can they expect at their local casino?

Again, this has more to do with the people who have the TV rights than those who run the World Series, but it’s something worth mentioning in the context of this article.

I have to say the WSOP has done a really good job of focusing on what really matters: the game itself.

Having tournaments broadcast on TV and online is certainly good for poker, but sometimes there are bad elements to it as well.

Have WSOP bracelets become “trivial”?

Back then, winning a WSOP bracelet was a big feat. The number of tournaments each year was quite low and the buy-ins quite high.

To win any of these trinkets, an amateur player had to be prepared to stake a fair amount of money. The pros had the bankroll, but the opportunities were limited.

Over the years, things have changed a lot on both sides of the spectrum.

These days, there are live WSOP events that cost only $ 300 or $ 500 to participate, and people can even win bracelets online. The entirety of the 2020 WSOP was played online due to the coronavirus situation, which was the only viable solution other than the complete cancellation of the series.

But was this the right solution?

Many pros have expressed concern that this is in fact bad for poker because it devalues ​​WSOP bracelets.

If someone and their dog can win one, the trophy will lose its appeal, and after a while it might become almost completely insignificant.

And, there are plenty of bracelets to shop around every year.

The modern WSOP will feature around 60 tournaments, or a few dozen new bracelets each year. Many of them are given away in tournaments with buy-ins under $ 1,000, whether played live or online.

But how is all of this bad for poker?

Rather, it can inspire casual gamers to try and perhaps win a WSOP bracelet – something many couldn’t even dream of a decade or two ago.

The problem is, there is a pretty delicate balance in the poker ecosystem. Professional gamers are the ones who keep the dream alive to a large extent.

If they’re not happy with what the WSOP is doing, they’ll share their opinion with the world. This, in turn, can have a negative effect on the game, killing the dream or making it meaningless.

If your favorite pro tells you that WSOP bracelets have turned into a joke, you will likely be less inspired to chase one.

Of course, poker is not just the WSOP, but for many fans, all the motivation for playing the game is the competitive aspect of it.

If this balance is disturbed, their passion for the game will diminish and eventually some of them will stop playing altogether.

Dig under the surface

The World Series of Poker is just one of the many activities that take place in Las Vegas. It’s a city that was built entirely on the gaming industry.

And, don’t get me wrong, the game is a lot of fun – but there is a dark side to it.

Many of those who travel to play the WSOP are unprepared for what to expect in Vegas.

The 24-hour action on slots and table games, free drinks, and bright lights can easily knock your inhibitions off the hook. After all, that’s the whole idea behind it!

Yes, it’s not the WSOP’s fault, but again, there’s no way to separate these things.

It’s quite a package, and when you go to play World Series of Poker, you might get more than you expected.

I know a few people who went to Vegas to participate in WSOP events and maybe side cash games, but ended up blowing their bankroll on table games.

An experience like this leaves a very sour taste in the mouth, and it is a feeling that is not easy to get rid of. The worst part is that this feeling is directly linked to poker because they went there to play poker.

You are correct in thinking that this danger exists almost everywhere because poker rooms are usually inside casinos, but Las Vegas is different. You don’t have to be a gambler to lose your money in the Vegas Pit.

Of course, I’m being overly dramatic here, but it’s something worth including in the discussion about whether the WSOP is good or bad for poker.

Most people will only strengthen their love and passion for the game after visiting the WSOP for the first time, but there is always a second side of the coin.

The verdict: the WSOP can only be really good for poker

While I’ve done my best to come up with a valid argument as to why the WSOP might be bad for poker, there is simply no way that these negatives outweigh the positives.

Without the World Series of Poker, the game wouldn’t be what it is today.

For many fans, the WSOP is the equivalent of poker. They don’t even know about EPT, WPTS and other series. Some of them don’t even know that gambling exists.

For them, poker is all about tournaments, and tournaments are played at the WSOP.

Saying the WSOP is bad for poker is like saying the Champions League is bad for football. Of course, there are things that could be fixed, and everyone has an opinion on what could be improved.

It should also be said that the WSOP organizers have shown a bit of flexibility over the years, trying to embrace new ideas and cater to players of all shapes and sizes as much as possible.

But in a competition that brings together tens of thousands of different people from all over the world, someone will always be unhappy with something. It’s just the nature of the beast.

Overall, there is no doubt that the WSOP is good for poker.

It’s changed a lot over the years, and it will change even more in the future, but it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which it would be bad for the game.

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