Final WSOP table to play out in nearly real time
In a first for televised poker, audiences will be able to see the final table of the World Series of Poker play out in nearly real time.
World Series of Poker owner Caesars Entertainment Corp. and television network ESPN have agreed to revise the format for the final table of nine players in the $10,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em World Championship to accommodate expanded television coverage.
Every hand of the final table will be shown to a U.S. television audience on a 15-minute delay, with hole cards being revealed to viewers.
The nine remaining players in the Main Event will begin at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, in the Rio’s Penn & Teller Theater.
ESPN2 will televise the action until the field is cut to three players, who will return to the Rio at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8. The three will compete until a new world poker champion is crowned. That action will be shown on ESPN through a 15-minute delay, also with hole cards being shown.
The action over the two days will also be streamed on both WSOP.com and ESPN3.com.
“This coverage shifts the paradigm for poker’s potential on television and will showcase our championship with unprecedented richness and scale,” World Series of Poker Executive Director Ty Stewart said. “For the first time, we will truly be represented as live sport versus just being broadcast on a live sports network.”
As was done during the World Series of Poker television coverage in the summer, hole cards will not be revealed to viewers until the hand has been completed.
This directive ensures zero impact on players during a live hand. Viewers may see any cards that determine the final winning or losing hand in some manner after the hand is completed, which takes place on the 15-minute delay.
The gaming enforcement division of the Gaming Control Board signed off on the changes.
To accommodate the format switch, the final table action was moved up from Saturday to Sunday and from Monday to Tuesday. For the past three years, ESPN has produced a special one-hour World Series of Poker broadcast airing on a Tuesday evening, covering the final table and including heads-up action between the final two players from the prior night.
ESPN officials could not be reached for comment.
The final nine players compete for a prize pool totaling almost $28.3 million. This year’s world poker champion will win $8.71 million. The tournament started July 7 with 6,865 players, the third largest field in World Series of Poker history. The total prize pool was more than $64.5 million.
Last week, state gaming regulators approved the offering of five proposition wagers on the final table, beyond wagering on who will win the Main Event, including odds on the makeup of the winning hand and which player will finish last. Wagering on the propositions will close before the first hand is dealt Nov. 6.
The final nine participants, who qualified in July, represent seven different countries — the most ever in World Series of Poker Main Event history. The current chip leader is Martin Staszko, 35, of the Czech Republic, with 40.175 million in tournament chips. Eoghan O’Dea of Ireland, 26, is in second place with 33.925 million in chips.
Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871.
Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
