WSOP Main Event Resumes on ESPN2
The 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event resumed on Monday night on a 30-minute delay on ESPN2. As each member of the November Nine zoomed across the Rio’s Voodoo Zip Line, the camera panned into the 1,200-seat Penn and Teller Theater, which was electric. As Bluff’s Lance Bradley put it, “Three minutes in and Politano’s rail is already the greatest of all time. It’s not even close.”
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Antonio Esfandiari, a former One Drop champion, joined Norman Chad and Lon McEachern in the announce booth and said that Newhouse’s experience “would be a huge difference-maker tonight.” He added that if he were at the final table, he’d be the elder statesman.
Jorryt Van Hoof was the chip leader when play resumed and was stacked with 95 big blinds, while Bruno Politano, whom Bradley referred to, had more than 30 big blinds as the short stack. As many have pointed out, unlike years past, there’s no dominant chip stack and desperate short stack. To that end, Esfandiari said, “It’s going to take a while.” Last year’s final table lasted 261 hands.
ESPN flashed to an interview with Mark Newhouse, who said, “In the last four months, I haven’t been playing much poker. Mark Newhouse the poker player – I don’t even remember.” He added, “I finished ninth last year and who would have known I’d have another shot at it.”
Reigning Main Event champion Ryan Riess gave the ceremonial “Shuffle up and deal” command and Newhouse started with the button. The blinds began at 200,000-400,000 with an ante of 50,000.
Patches included 888 Poker, the Commerce Casino, and DraftKings, a daily fantasy sports site. Neteller, Ruffles, and NJOY logos appeared on the table itself.
Hole cards are being shown on every pot, so viewers at home can know exactly what players have. We’ll continue to bring you updates throughout the evening in sync with the TV broadcast right here on PocketFives.
