By
Dan
When players from across the globe converge on the Amazon Room for the 2008 World Series of Poker, they’ll notice one glaring difference on the schedule. The final table of the Main Event, the Super Bowl of poker, will not be held until November 9th as part of a change announced by Harrah’s Entertainment and ESPN on Thursday. It was originally scheduled to be filmed on July 16th, 13 days after the Main Event kicked off. The final nine players will head back to Las Vegas on November 9th and play down to two. The heads up match will occur on November 10th and will air on ESPN on Tuesday, November 11th, from 9pm to 11pm ET.
In total, the move to change the final table date is being done in order to generate more interest in the tournament as a whole. As Jeffrey Pollack, Commissioner of the World Series of Poker, put it in a press release distributed Thursday, “Now fans and viewers will ask ‘who will win’ our coveted championship bracelet instead of seeing ‘who won.’ The excitement and interest surrounding our final nine players will be unprecedented.”
The WSOP begins on May 30th with Event #1, a $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em tournament. Over the course of the next six weeks, over 50 events will unfold, including the $10,000 buy-in Main Event. However, players leaving the Rio in mid-July will have no clue as to who the champion of the Main Event is until November. The final nine will be able to watch the action from the entire World Series unfold on ESPN starting on Tuesday, July 22nd. Over the next 100 days, the last nine players remaining in the Main Event will be able to line up sponsors and, according to a press release distributed jointly by Harrah’s and ESPN, “take advantage of the new publicity and promotional opportunities that will be available.” Harrah’s will then fly the members of the final table back to Las Vegas and watch them duke it out in November.
Michael Humes, Communications Coordinator for ESPN, commented to PocketFives.com that the added drama is very alluring to ESPN: “Pushing back the final table of the Main Event provides the opportunity to show the World Series of Poker on a quick turnaround. It also provides the opportunity to televise the first half of the tournament leading up to the final table as opposed to having the ultimate winner already being determined. It adds to the drama.”
Harrah’s Communications Director Seth Palansky told PocketFives.com, “This does change the final table of the Main Event. All of the players will now get to scout and see how they played and how their competitors played when they prepare for the final table in November.”
Other big changes outlined in a conference call on Thursday include better spacing between tables to allow poker players more room as well as a completely separate satellite room (as opposed to satellites being held in the Amazon Room). In addition, players will be pleased to know that there will no longer be a tent outside in the Las Vegas sun with tables; the Amazon Room will have enough seating for 2,740 players at any time.