[shaniac]

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Will this whet the appetites of poker-players in that area and entice them to try to make it to Vegas in July for the 'real thing'?
Or will just playing a circuit event be enough for them? t

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I say yes to the former. If you look at the list of players who cashed the 1K event at the Caesar's WSOPCT event, you don't see the usual list of names from the circuit--the Vegas and LA pros and other regulars. Instead, it's a whole new crop of people experiencing what it's like to go the distance and take down money in an NL tournament. Poker is a very engaging game and such experiences only serve to promote the desire for action, competition, winning.

I won't take a guess as to how many people will turn out for the main event next year, but I agree that the biggest potential problem with the 2006 ME schedule is the duration. I wonder what fraction of people who were able to take 1 week off this year for their ME seat won't be able to take off 10-15 days next year. Any guesses?

The one cool feature about the schedule is that no one plays 2 days in a row on either days 1A-D, or 2AB/2CD. I'm declaring Day 1D to be the ideal starting day. Do you see why?

Shane