| Harrah’s Has Changed Everything – Let’s Hope for the Better |
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| From the Editor - From the Editor | |||
| Written by John Wenzel | |||
 There are a lot of reasons to like – or not like – the change in format of this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event. I’m talking about Harrah’s unprecedented decision to hold the final table almost four months after the rest of the event. Time will tell whether this surprise move proves to be a good one, but there is one thing that is certain: It will change the result. It doesn’t take a time traveler to realize that if you change one event in the past, you could change everything. There is a kind of “butterfly effect” in poker where changing even one card at one table in a major event will likely change the nature of the entire event. For example, say someone loudly sneezes as the dealer is shuffling, making him hesitate and thus alter his shuffle. The order of the cards has changed, and a player who might have doubled up on the next hand now does not. And that player who would’ve doubled up would have eventually moved to another table and fed his chips to a specific player, or, if he doubled up again at his new table, he could have knocked someone out with his big stack where otherwise he would not have had that player covered. You get the idea. One card – one sneeze – could possibly change everything. Actually, it’s more than possible. It’s probable. So it’s no stretch to say that cards dealt four months later will be different. But it’s not just the cards. Most players who win an event of this size are on the hot streak of a lifetime. It is almost as if they are destined to win, and no matter how inexperienced they are, whatever decision they make – no matter how unusual – turns out to be golden. Let’s face it: You need more than skill to win an event with thousands of players. Some pros have said that it is ludicrous and perhaps unfair to allow the final- tablists to suddenly get months of coaching after reaching the final table. I have a different take: The coaching will make them better long term, but in this particular short-term event, it could actually hurt them. A tournament is a slice of time, a moment when the stars align for some, not for others. Some players will come into the final table walking on water, with tremendous momentum and confidence and a unique state of mind. What will happen when these players have months to think, train and brood? Look at who’s won the Main Event lately: One-hit wonders like Jerry Yang, Jamie Gold, Chris Moneymaker, Robert Varkonyi – and the list goes on. These players were arguably the most inexperienced players at their respective final tables, but they caught lightning in a bottle and played the games of their lives. They made some unorthodox and often incorrect moves to win, moves they never would have made if they had been coached for four solid months, like the final-table players this year will be. By the time the final table rolls around in November, the final-tablists will be different players, different people, and will not make the same plays – plays that just might have won the whole enchilada four months earlier. Robert Varkonyi kept winning big with queen-ten offsuit. Jerry Yang was hyper-aggressive for the first time in his life. Jamie Gold would certainly have been told to tone down the table talk and other antics that worked so well for him during his brief moment in the spotlight. Who knows, with months to reflect, he might have changed a few things without being asked. His moves surely would have been less effective against players who had months to ponder his verbal strategies. And Chris Moneymaker has said that compared to what he knows now, the player he was when he won in 2003 was a pure novice. But the novice won, and it was exciting. Let’s hope that in changing the future, Harrah’s hasn’t changed everything. John “Johnny Quads” Wenzel Editor-in-Chief
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| Last Updated on Sunday, 17 May 2009 17:43 |
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