WSOP 2008 Main Event Final Table Delay

May 19, 2008

In the past years the WSOP Main Event has become the most popular poker event in the world. Thousands of players enter the $10,000 buy-in event, hoping to take a 7 figure pay day by winning it all. Also, the event is televised which brings tons of publicity to the game, because ESPN really markets it aggressively.

Last year over 6,000 players entered, creating a prize pool of nearly $60 million dollars. The winner, Jerry Yang, took over $8 million in prize money. This year should have at least as many entrants, and ESPN is changing things up to bring even more drama and publicity to the televised event.

Play will begin just like normal on July 3rd. The players will continue playing until there are only 9 players remaining. Now, at this time, unlike in years past, play will halt. There will be a three month delay before the final table is televised live on ESPN. The reasoning behind this is that ESPN will really be able to build up drama and publicity for the event, so it should get much better TV ratings then in years past. However, this kind of sucks for the final table players because they will have a three month wait which will be very stressful and it will seem like forever.

One advantage the players will have, however, is that if they aren’t signed with an online poker site yet, they will receive huge offers to wear internet poker sites’ hats, shirts, and other gear. We’re literally talking millions of dollars here just in endorsements to wear the gear. That is definitely worth three months in my eyes.

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