Lest we forget that poker is going on in places other than Texas, Harrah\’s has revised its payout structure for WSOP bracelet events. Donkey Bomber was just bitching about the the disappointment of his buddy Mike Wattel\’s $300k payday (for 6th place in the WPT Championship) … and less than a week later the WSOP steps forth with a pro-friendly plan to differentiate itself from its biggest brand-name competition.
I know the pros like to say they are always trying to win, but really … they are trying to get the max return on their investment of time and money. So if you have, say, an 80 percent chance of winning $100k and a 5 percent chance of winning $1 million, what\’s the better prize to go for? This is simple Deal or No Deal math, even according to Sklansky. Making the payouts a little less top-heavy hass gotta change at least a few players\’ near-bubble strategy, no?
Harrah\’s explanation of how the new payout system would have applied to last year\’s main event field:
Overall, 846 players last year would have won substantially more money – in some case, more than double – what they collected in 2006. The top 27 players would have received less, however.
For example, the 2006 Main Event would have paid $22,266 for 873rd through 775th places, up from $14,605 or $15,512. Places 82 through 73 would have paid $126,173, up from $66,010. First place would have paid $10,028,715, down from $12 million, while second place would have been worth $5,442,769, compared with $6,105,900.
By the way, semi-related … interesting to see all the PartyPoker ads all over the (new and improved) official WSOP website.