participants into “stars.”  The format change would, in Jeffrey’s words, leave us with a “great cliffhanger” and make the November live broadcast of the final table, “appointment television.”

No doubt the decision will be debated ad nauseam over the next few weeks and months.  Poker purists will say the unprecedented time-off ruins the integrity of the event, while those with an eye toward the business side of poker will argue that the move has the potential to promote huge growth in the game by attracting an even larger mainstream audience.

Another part of the call I found particularly interesting deals with the prize pool for the nine players.  Upon reaching the final table, the remaining participants all receive 9th place money.  The remainder goes into an interest-bearing account, and, after the ten-week lay off, the money accumulated from the interest gets added to the prize pool (hmmm…I think I know a few dealers who have some other ideas of what to do with the interest money).

All in all, I guess only time will tell.  I’m sure I’ll continue exploring this topic as more details are revealed, but there is one thing that saddens me right off the bat.  If this change becomes permanent, the Main Event will become a totally different monster than it has been for thousands of years (ok…probably less than that).  People will always look back on the old format with nostalgia, much as people look back on the glory days of the main event at Binion’s, and when they look back they’ll remember that the last two champions crowned “back when they played straight through” were Jamie Gold and Jerry Yang.  It’s going to be very hard to refer to that as “the good ole days.”

Gable Kaplan is probably pissed.

The NBC National Heads-up Championship has been slightly marred the last few years with talks of who should or shouldn’t have been invited.  While NBC tries to balance a mix of legitimate poker pros (for the poker hardliners) with celebrity pomp (for the non-poker-Saturday-afternoon-TV-crowd), many people still criticize “The Peacock” for choices made, feeling that many deserving players often lose out to “less-deserving” names from the world of poker and entertainment.

Thanks to some recent performances, however, NBC does have a legit argument for its penchant for “star power.”  In 2007, Shannon Elizabeth reached the Final Four (taking down big name players Jeff Madsen, Barry Greenstein, and Humberto Brenes) in the process, and in 2008, former World Series of BASEBALL MVP, Orel Hershiser, topped Ted Forrest, Allen Cunningham and Freddie Deeb en route to an Elite Eight appearance.

Despite the Cinderella stories, people in poker still want a more concrete selection method, and it looks like we got our wish.  NBC released a set of criteria that will account for twenty-seven of the sixty-four entrants, and will hopefully assure that more and more deserving players get seats in to the event.  The system still leaves thirty-seven spots open for “star power,” like Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, and Phil Hellmuth – players who might not always meet the criteria, but remain consistent fan favorites - and celebrities like past participants Don Cheadle and Jason Alexander.

So, will the NBC Heads Up field look much different next year?  Probably not.  You’ll still have the guys who did well last year, the guys who have done well for many years, the big names, a few celebs and…Jamie Gold and Clonie Gowen.

Here is the NBC National Heads Up Championship criteria, care of PokerNews.com:

• Previous five (5) National Heads-Up Poker Champions
• Previous two (2) National Heads-Up runners-up
• Previous year's National Heads-Up semifinalists
• Any player who cashes in the past four consecutive years of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship
• Previous three (3) World Series of Poker Main Event champions
• Reigning World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up
• Beginning with the 2008 WSOP, multiple bracelet winners in the same year will receive an automatic invitation
• Defending World Series of Poker Player of the Year
• Defending World Series of Poker Heads-Up Champion
• Defending World Series of Poker Europe Main Event Champion (must be 21 or older)
• Reigning World Poker Tour Player of the Year
• Reigning Monte Carlo European Poker Tour Grand Final Champion (must be 21 or older)
• Reigning Card Player Magazine Player of the Year
• Reigning BLUFF Magazine Player of the Year;
• Reigning All In Magazine Player of the Year;
• Online and NBC qualifiers;
• Host venue qualifiers (two).