Word: play
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...starters, there are now 57 events, and it moved to the Rio [Las Vegas Hotel & Casino] in 2005. They also now play the Final Table in November so it can be on prime-time television. All of these changes were designed to accommodate and capitalize on a bigger field. The first year I did it, we couldn't even fill a table. They had something like 6,800 total entrants for last year's Main Event. In the beginning, it was always a bunch of touring pros in these. Now there are a lot of amateurs, some of whom...
Does that mean the overall quality of play has improved...
...undisputed icon of Chinese basketball, the country's most high-profile player in what is probably the nation's most popular sport. While not the first Chinese hoopster to play in the NBA - that distinction goes to Wang Zhizhi, who was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in 1999 - Yao is by far the most prominent. A seven-time NBA All-Star and pillar of the Chinese national team, his angular face can be seen on everything in China from Coke billboards to Visa ads. His annual endorsement income last year was estimated at $36 million, more than triple that...
...Bryant. But he is still closely followed. "I'm so bummed out about his injury," says Yan Xin, 27, a Yao fan who never misses a Rockets game when they are televised in China. "In hindsight, he should have just focused on the NBA, and not be forced to play for the Chinese national team. I can't imagine how anyone can deal with such overwhelming pressure and intense schedules." (See pictures of China's sports schools...
...seeing Yao out with an injury. While he has noticeably toughened up over his seven seasons in the NBA, he has often been hurt. In February 2008 he suffered a stress fracture in his left foot that kept him out of the NBA playoffs, but he returned to play for his country in the Beijing Olympics. He carried China's flag into the Olympic stadium and led the Chinese men to the quarterfinals, where they lost to Lithuania. This past NBA season was the first since 2004-05 that he didn't miss a significant number of games...