“Fell asleep round 12 EST, woke up around 7 EST and they were still playing 3-handed. Amazing. Congrats to Greg Merson (pictured) I was more impressed with his play more than any other winner in recent years.” Those were the comments of one member of the PocketFives community on Wednesday morning after final table play in the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event came to an end after 12 hours starting on Tuesday night, when play began with three.The final table stretched for 399 hands, the most for any Las Vegas Main Event in history, according to WSOP officials. The reason we say “Las Vegas” is because when John Juanda won the WSOP Europe Main Event in 2008 against Stanislav Alekhin, play lasted a rousing 484 hands. As coverage on WSOP.com explained four years ago, “For those of you who stuck with us throughout our 22 hours of final table coverage... well, you're all insane! Dedicated, but insane.”
When this author trotted downstairs to his living room around 8:30am ET on Wednesday, I was met with my wife and three-month-old son watching poker. No, it wasn't highlights. Instead, Lon McEachern, Norman Chad, and Antonio Esfandiari were still trucking along after 12 hours. Chad was surprisingly silent, while Esfandiari sounded like a cup of coffee and a throat lozenge were needed. That said, we were quite impressed at their stamina.
Instead of “SportsCenter” on Wednesday morning, sports junkies across the United States turned on ESPN, “The Mothership,” only to be met with poker. As one poster in the OT forum on PocketFives put it, “You really can't underestimate how many people turn on ESPN, see that it's poker, and snap-change it. Compare that with how many people turn on their televisions, see that it's 'SportsCenter,' and say, 'This resembles decent television, I'll leave this on forever.' It's the framework that ESPN is built upon.”
Others were confused at the lack of celebration shown on camera, as ESPN quickly cut away after Merson won the bracelet. No interviews were shown and the ESPN telecast was edited when it cut away. One PocketFiver questioned, “WTF ESPN? you think we just waited 12 hours to not watch the celebration?”
Merson had the likes of Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harman, and U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps (pictured) in his corner during his Main Event run. In addition, he became the lone dual bracelet winner of 2012 and claimed the 2012 WSOP Player of the Year title.Merson told WSOP officials following his win, “I’ve played a lot of long cash games in my career, which helps you prepare for something like this, but this whole stage is something you can’t ever really prepare for. I couldn’t feel better for everyone who I’m sharing this victory with.”
To wrap up our WSOP coverage, we'll turn to Phelps, whom some have argued is the top Olympian of all-time. Phelps Tweeted within an hour of the tournament coming to a close, “Weeeeee @Gregy20723!” We've removed multiple extra exclamation points from Phelps.
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