I finally figured it out...It's the atmosphere, or lack of, in the "Great Poker Room" that houses the WSOP. Spreading the WSOP's that have been held the last few years at the Rio, in their vast convention area compared to the cozy confines of the Horseshoe that played host to Benny Binion's brainchild in the ancient 1970s, is like comparing the Wright brothers constructing their first airplane in their bicycle shop, as opposed to the vast hangers that Boeing uses today to build their immense 700 series aircraft.

Thanks to the Internet, TV, the legend of Chris Moneymaker and some slick marketing on the part of Harrah's, a monster has been created.... with no end in sight as to how big this monster will grow. The comradery that prevailed even while turning over one's hole cards and showing their opponent the "Nuts" in the more laid back '70s WSOP will never, I fear, return.

All the players were either "good ole boys" from the foreign land of Texas or a neighboring state and the rest were just local pros. Many of the locals pros were transplanted Texans, also making them "good ole boys" once removed!

In the '70s you could kibbutz or sweat a friend at another table without leaving the room, or often without leaving your seat. Today you need a guide and a bottle of water to sustain you as you trek across the vast region through the maize of tables to sweat a friend that is playing in a game across the room, and of course all of this you would not have time for between hands at your table. Back then every player knew each other (and each dealer) by their first names. Today, many players are known only by their reputation or by their "mugs" as seen on TV or in way too many boring poker magazines, filled with ads, tournament schedules and ego spurred articles on how to apply situations, most players will never apply, or at the very least forget when and how, if and when the situation comes up.

I know run on sentences are the sign of a rant...I guess that's what I'm doing here.

The last few years at the Rio a player is lucky to know the name of even one opponent at their table, or for that matter at a table next to him/her (HER.. wow, there are more female players playing in the last few WSOP, than there were players period in the early '70s. But that's another story!)

Now it's just keep your head down with one eye on your cards and the other eye on the dealer (it's unfortunate that you can't solely concentrate on your cards and your opponent, but with sooooooo many games, there are just so many qualified dealers to go around.

Today it's more like a business, a business that pays a lot better, than in the '70s...but would not some of us trade some $$$$$ for some old fashioned amiable comradery, but not for the "wrist candy."

I'd rather be lucky than good... Frank Marino