Why is the World Championship (WSOP LV Main Event) decided by Texas Hold'Em? (1 Viewer)

[dkersey]

The question is: With all the variants of poker, why is Texas Hold'em solely played for the world championship?

It seems to me there are several main/core poker games played, and if they all were played, you would get the best all-around poker player. I believe the HORSE tournaments may be emulating this. Yes, I am aware of the Rounders quote (summary cut/pasted below), but that is a movie. I understand the No-Limit part, but why exclusively Texas Hold'Em?

Mike McDermott: [Narrating] The game in question is no limit Texas hold'em, each player is dealt two cards face down then five cards are dealt face up these are known as community cards everyone can use to make the best five card hand, the key to the game is playing the man, not the cards, there's no other game in which fortunes can change so much from hand to hand, a brilliant player can get a strong hand, crack go on tilt and lose his mind along with every chip in front of him, this is why The World Series of Poker is decided on a no limit hold'em table, pro's won't play no limit they can't handle the swings but there are others like Doyle Brunson consider no limit the only pure game left.

 

[v1pe]

WSOP has many different games/events. I guess you mean specifically the Main Event?

I think the ME is NLHE just simply because it's the most approachable and well known game out there, so it's going to be the game that attracts the largest fields...which makes winning it more difficult and prestigious.

I think most poker professionals would say that the $50k PPC (Poker Player's Championship) is one of, if not the most, prestigious events. I believe it's an 8-game mix now.

 

[upNdown]

I think most poker professionals would say that the $50k PPC (Poker Player's Championship) is one of, if not the most, prestigious events. I believe it's an 8-game mix now.

That’s it right there. The players, and a lot of the informed fans see the players championship as one of the most important tournament. Everybody wants to win the Main Event, but everybody knows when a player like John Hesp can come so close to winning it, it’s as much of a novelty as it is a championship. And that’s the excitement. Any decent player could get enough run-good and go deep or win the biggest tournament in the world.

 

[ohio3302016]

WSOP has many different games/events. I guess you mean specifically the Main Event?

I think the ME is NLHE just simply because it's the most approachable and well known game out there, so it's going to be the game that attracts the largest fields...which makes winning it more difficult and prestigious.

I think most poker professionals would say that the $50k PPC (Poker Player's Championship) is one of, if not the most, prestigious events. I believe it's an 8-game mix now.

It's a 10 game mix now...

Limit 2–7 triple draw lowball, limit Texas hold'em, limit Omaha/8B, limit razz, limit seven-card stud, limit seven card stud/8B, no-limit Texas hold'em with antes, pot-limit Omaha, badugi, and 2–7 no-limit draw lowball.

 

[derekdd23]

It's a 10 game mix now...

Limit 2–7 triple draw lowball, limit Texas hold'em, limit Omaha/8B, limit razz, limit seven-card stud, limit seven card stud/8B, no-limit Texas hold'em with antes, pot-limit Omaha, badugi, and 2–7 no-limit draw lowball.

According to the WSOP website its only 7 game:

http://www.wsop.com/2018/2018-WSOP-Schedule-v12.pdf
http://www.wsop.com/pdfs/structuresheets/structure_1487_16433.pdf

Poker Players Championship 6-Handed (5 day event) (Limit Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, Seven Card Stud, Razz, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better, No-Limit Hold'em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw)

 

[ohio3302016]

According to the WSOP website its only 7 game:

http://www.wsop.com/2018/2018-WSOP-Schedule-v12.pdf
http://www.wsop.com/pdfs/structuresheets/structure_1487_16433.pdf

Poker Players Championship 6-Handed (5 day event) (Limit Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, Seven Card Stud, Razz, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better, No-Limit Hold'em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw)

Interesting.

May have switched back for 2018. It was 10 game at one point.

 

[BGinGA]

According to the WSOP website its only 7 game:

http://www.wsop.com/2018/2018-WSOP-Schedule-v12.pdf
http://www.wsop.com/pdfs/structuresheets/structure_1487_16433.pdf

Poker Players Championship 6-Handed (5 day event) (Limit Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, Seven Card Stud, Razz, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better, No-Limit Hold'em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw)

Maybe my counting skills are flawed, but I think that totals 8 games, not 7.

 

[Zmasterben]

To answer the original question Benny Binion was a showman and the original WSOP was conceived as mostly a publicity stunt to give fame to the Horseshoe by attracting the top players in the world. He and the original greats all agreed that the championship should be a NL game because it was capable of being the most exciting due to the potential swings. I believe it is mentioned in Brunson's book Super Systems that the decision was made between NLHE or NL 2-7 Lowball Draw and they ended up choosing NLHE. In the first open World Championship Binion brought in a bunch of media in to watch to generate publicity to the surprise of the players causing Doyle Brunson to get upset about being recorded winning money because of the potential backlash over taxes. He made a backdoor deal with Binion to walk away with some of the money on the table and made up an excuse to walk away.

It continued to be NLHE because of a combination of tradition and the ability to attract the biggest fields and thus give away huge prizes and get more publicity. As many have mentioned the Poker Players Championship was later added in the mid 2000s to be the true championship after the Main Event became a crapshoot NLHE amateurfest. WSOP makes a lot of money on the idea that "anyone can win the Main Event" but wanted a contest that would be mostly pros playing mix game as well.

The Poker Players championship has evolved over the years. It started as HORSE but later switched to 8-game but the final table was only NLHE for TV purposes which angered the players since many top pros don't consider NLHE the elite game. It was then changed to 10-game for a few years but appears they changed the format yet again this year to be 8-game again.

 

[derekdd23]

Maybe my counting skills are flawed, but I think that totals 8 games, not 7.

Yeah I can count real good like