Thanks everyone for the responses to yesterday’s questions, it looks as though most of us are thinking along the same lines. As far as my own opinion goes, I’m pleased as hell to see the pros doing so well this year in all of the events, and while I (and pretty much everyone else) love an underdog Cinderella story, I’m really pulling for an established pro to win the main event this year.
By saying these things I certainly don’t want to take away from the skill or talent that the “amateurs” show, and I certainly agree with the sentiment that Raymer was more of an unknown pro than an amateur. I think that if a named pro can take it down this year it will bolster the game even further. If an amateur (like MoneyMaker, never played in a live tourney before) takes it down again, I think that we will begin seeing a small swell of grumbling among the truly amateur masses that poker really is just all luck so why bother? Not that I think it will destroy the massive interest in the game or anything, but I think it has the potential to cause a small but visible crack that could speed the leveling of poker popularity instead of pushing it’s meteoric rise in popularity even further.
In all professional sports there are the greats that we as fans look up to. If amateurs started winning NBA championships, I think that its popularity would steadily decline; without someone or something great to aspire to the game starts becoming meaningless over time. A big win for a pro in the main event this year will really solidify the fact that poker is skill game more than it is a roll of the proverbial dice.
Michael Jordan, with his multiple championships and host of other amazing feats pushed basketball popularity to unheard of levels, and I think that is exactly what will happen if any one of the greats out there can pull down the championship this year.
For what it’s worth, I’m pulling for Action Dan. How amazing would that be?
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