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BGonline.org Forums
Europe gets BG; USA consolation prize is poker
Posted By: Chuck Bower
Date: Monday, 21 July 2008, at 5:07 p.m.
I can't help but feel a bit melancholy, sitting here reading about all the fun and excitement in European BG. Yes, this didn't happen overnight. They've had the WC for nearly 30 years and the Nordic Open has been the second biggest tournament in the world for several years now.
Now Cannes (thanks to the added money, Partouche competition, etc.) is duking it out with the Nordic Wide for second. Meanwhile here the attendance in most events is dropping, particularly in LV which used to be our biggest two, and the ones which attracted the most international competitors. Michigan has held up well, actually breaking its own Open field size this year (94) but that's only 60% of what Cannes got. No coincidence that the Open in Novi is the only (that I know of) non-raked Open event in the US.
The obvious direction to point the finger is the value of the dollar wrt the Euro. But a secondary issue is that fact that Europeans can play for $ online (qualifiers for Partouche finals a good example) whereas our government has found it in its puritan heart to make that as difficult as possible here. The added money in Europe is tied to this segment of the economy as well (I believe).
Yes, we still have the World Series of Poker. But attendance (at least in the main event) has started its downhill slide since the record in 2006. Again, the governments moral restrictions have contributed to that probably even more so than the dollar / oil price / recession component.
Don't get me wrong. I'm happy for you Europeans, Japanese, Aussies and those few Americans (North and South continents) who have been able to make it over there for the festivities. But while we're enjoying your pleasure it's hard not to feel a twinge.
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