Hellmuth boycotts the Main Event
Every two years for the last ten years, the average age of a poker player has increased by almost one year. This statistic, which was told to me by one of poker’s leading marketeers, was brought sharply into focus yesterday when the 1989 WSOP Main Event champion announced that he will be skipping this year’s “Big Dance” on account of its grueling length. Phil Hellmuth says that the WSOP Main Event is still his favorite tournament, but insists that the structure needs to be changed before he will grace it with his presence again.
After his announcement, the poker community was abuzz with responses to Hellmuth. They ranged from sympathy to ridicule, with some suggesting that he was bluffing. Poker’s resident Meme-Lord took it a step farther, implying that the video was part of a guerrilla marketing stunt for Breinfuel.
I must admit that my own first instinct was incredulity. “The Poker Brat” never misses an opportunity to self-promote and the WSOP Main Event is poker’s biggest stage. On reflection, however, I think that he is using his considerable voice to highlight a genuine problem with the Main Event structure which could and maybe should be fixed.
If poker is becoming an older person’s game, should its flagship tournament make modifications to suit that demographic? Even if we disregard average age, is there a better way to get from 10,000+ players to one over a fortnight in the desert? Which compromises are tolerable and which ones should be absolutely off the table? I do think that the Main Event should be an endurance test, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be grueling. As somebody who is aging terribly, I need to consider my position carefully here, as Hellmuth might be my canary in the coal mine. With that in mind, here are a few suggestions for how the structure could be tweaked.
100-minute levels on Day 1
The money bubble of the Main Event pretty consistently bursts either late in Level 15 or during Level 16. That might seem like essentially the same thing, but which it is actually has consequence. Level 15 is the last level of Day 3. Level 16 is the first level of Day 4. Personally, I think it would be good to burst the money bubble on the last hand of Day 3, so I would propose figuring out a way to play one more level across the first three days.
the 300 big blind stack depth is a big part of why people love the Main Event
The most obvious way would be to reduce the starting stack from 60,000 to 50,000. As any tournament director will tell you, the difference between 300 and 250 big blinds will save you about one level of play. However, whether you are the type of player who likes to splash about with a big stack early on or someone who appreciates that you can get coolered and still have chips left, I think the 300 big blind stack depth is a big part of why people love the Main Event.
If we are looking to shave off a level, I would instead propose playing 100-minute levels on Day 1, four before the dinner break and two after. I would also suggest closing late registration at the start of Day 2, one level earlier than it is currently. That will also ever so slightly help the attrition rate with max-late-reggers forced to play one more level. Those two things in combination should get us to the money bubble in Level 16 at the end of Day 3. In the unlikely event of it being level 17, then I think you play it out that night and guarantee an 11-hour turnaround for the players before the start of Day 4.
Four levels per day from Day 5 onwards
The next thing I would recommend is having a rest day after Day 4. At this point, the entire remaining field (roughly 4.5% of the entrants) will have played two long days in a row and most will have played three. Since only one out of every 22 players will make it this far, this rest day is also a reasonable hedge-point for players who are not interested in playing side events to book their flights home.
From there, I would propose playing just four levels per day with no dinner break and finishing at 9pm. That means that the 20 levels that are currently played between Day 5 and Day 8 would now take one extra day. The counterpoint is, of course, that this adds an extra day to the tournament’s overall duration, on top of the extra rest day that I suggested after Day 4.
these extra days are affecting a very small number of people
My counter-counterpoint would be that these extra days are affecting a very small number of people whose equity in the tournament is more than making the inconvenience worthwhile. By the end of Day 9, the remaining nine players will have played five 8-hour days since their last day off and will now have another rest day to rest and prepare for the final table. There’s no doubting the seriousness of that grind, but at the same time, it does seem more humane.
A marathon with more down time
In its current form, the Main Event is a ten-day tournament, taking place over 15 days when you factor in the four Day 1s, two Day 2s, and one rest day. If these changes were implemented, it would be an 11-day tournament, taking place over 17 days. The key thing, though, is how player-friendly these changes would be, in terms of offering more downtime across what will always be a marathon event, whatever way you cut it.
His points are nonetheless valid and I think they should be heeded.
It’s only fair to point out that Hellmuth has not cashed the Main Event in a decade, with six Day 2 bust-outs and three Day 3 eliminations since 2015. Factoring in how he usually makes his grand entrance after dinner on Day 1, it’s fair to say that he hasn’t exactly been put through the mill by the Main Event. His points are nonetheless valid and I think they should be heeded.
In the video, Hellmuth claimed that some friends of his blew their chances on Days 6 and 7, making mistakes because of fatigue. I think that the above addresses these issues without corrupting the sanctity of poker’s greatest tournament. With more opportunities for rest and all the Breinfuel they can guzzle down, surely Hellmuth and his fellow super-seniors could keep pace.