Does Anyone Still Care About The WSOP?

So I'm reading a story about the WSOP Main Event, and how the turnout of just under 7,000 entrants means that the event and the game is stronger than anticipated, since they were expecting less than that... and all I can say is, um, what?

Seriously, my interest in poker games that I'm not playing in... has more or less evaporated after the Black Friday decision by the Obama Justice Department to raid online poker sites, and the subsequent disintegration of poker on television. My television viewing has gone to MLB and scripted series and movies, my working hours have expanded, and while I still make the occasional casino foray and host the home game, the idea of watching other people play... well, that's not getting missed a lot.

Part of it comes from the idea that you can actually learn something, beyond who wins and who loses, from watching other people play with hole cameras. You can't, really, unless you are planning to play these people at your local game, and if that's the case, I recommend finding more lucrative hobbies. Like, say, jumping out of airplanes without parachutes. The pain is a little more abrupt.

Besides, if I've learned anything from past years of watching ESPN's coverage of the WSOP, it's that getting it all-in with horrible misreads and crushed situations just results in runner-runner suckout wins. Which hasn't really defined my experience at the tables, at least not in 2011.

So sure, I'm probably going to watch some of this later and all... but if I don't? It's not going to strike me as any kind of tragedy. Poker as a game isn't a fad; it's a lifetime hobby that I'm hoping will always be lucrative and fun. But watching it on television? Gone, baby, gone, and with each passing day, missed a little less.