If you’re getting ready for the finale of the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event on ESPN on Monday night, know that you’ll be able to see select players’ hole cards on a 15-minute delay. Cards will be shown at the end of the hand for all players still in when the action concludes, so as ESPN officials commented on a conference call this week, “If you go to showdown, your cards will be shown.”

The action itself will air on a 15-minute delay, allowing the viewing audience at home to feel as if they’re immersed in the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio in Las Vegas watching every turn of the card live. “It’s literally the one night that every amateur and every pro wants to be a part of,” ESPN Vice President of Original Programming and Production Jamie Horowitzcommented in the same call. “When you walk into the Penn and Teller Theater, it feels like nothing else in poker. It always amazing me: the raucous crowd, the cheering.”

Lon McEachern, Norman Chad, and WSOP One Drop champion Antonio Esfandiariwill call the action on ESPN2 starting at 8:00pm ET on Monday, November 4. The field will be cut from nine to three, at which point play will pause until Tuesday, November 5 at 9:00pm ET on ESPN, when a champion will be named. The winner gets $8.3 million. ESPN officials added, “If eliminated players want to come into the booth, we have room for a fourth person.” Marianela Pereyra and Phil Hellmuth will host during breaks.

Some in the industry have argued that this year’s final table isn’t as compelling storyline-wise as in years past. However, according to McEachern, the process of creating stories and plotlines has become increasingly difficult: “It’s an increasing challenge where you have to keep finding the right people to key on, stay with them, and also advance the poker. That gets more difficult every year because the audience gets more knowledgeable every year.”

Horowitz added, “We try to tell the story as honestly and authentically as we can. We think there are a few compelling stories out there this year… You really never know the level of poker or what will happen until it does.”

One of the rowdiest rails during the play down days of the Main Event in July belonged to Jay Farber (pictured), a Las Vegas VIP host who had no live tournament cashes to his credit before this year’s finale of the WSOP, according to the Hendon Mob. “Half of the people in the Penn and Teller Theater have probably been booked to a club by him,” Chad jested. “The Las Vegas crowd always roots for the locals… Jay is a great story. He is essentially the truest amateur at the table.”

To close out the call, McEachern cautioned, “This is a new animalfor all of [the 2013 WSOP November Nine]… None of these guys have experienced what they are about to see come next Monday. They are all talented, but they’ll all have a wakeup call when they walk in.”

We’ll have full coverage of the November Nine for you right here on PocketFives.

Want the latest poker headlines and interviews? Follow PocketFives on Twitterand Like PocketFives on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed.