WSOP Final Table Delayed to November!
Believe it or not, the WSOP final table will no longer be on July 16 but will be delayed 117 days to November 9! See New WSOP format allows for 'almost virtually real time' telecast & World Series of Poker stretches out Main Event
July 3: Main Event begins.
July 14: Field reduced to nine players.
Nov. 9: Final table play begins, cutting field to two.
Nov. 10: Final two meet for title.
Nov. 11: ESPN airs two-hour show on the final table. Telecast begins at 9 p.m. ET.
Here is how I would spend the 117 days if I made it to the final table:
- hire the best poker coaches in the world to transform me from a lucky donkey in July to a 100 times better player by November.
- quit work/school to work full-time on maximizing $EV in the final table.
- sell sponsorships to the highest bidders and earn more money than the WSOP prize.
- if the above is not enough, hire assassins to take out the other eight players so that I will be World Champion by default! >:D
- when it gets down to the final two on November 10, the winner is decided on the very first hand and ESPN has one hand to show for their two-hour telecast.
July 3: Main Event begins.
July 14: Field reduced to nine players.
Nov. 9: Final table play begins, cutting field to two.
Nov. 10: Final two meet for title.
Nov. 11: ESPN airs two-hour show on the final table. Telecast begins at 9 p.m. ET.
Here is how I would spend the 117 days if I made it to the final table:
- hire the best poker coaches in the world to transform me from a lucky donkey in July to a 100 times better player by November.
- quit work/school to work full-time on maximizing $EV in the final table.
- sell sponsorships to the highest bidders and earn more money than the WSOP prize.
- if the above is not enough, hire assassins to take out the other eight players so that I will be World Champion by default! >:D
- when it gets down to the final two on November 10, the winner is decided on the very first hand and ESPN has one hand to show for their two-hour telecast.
Comments
If ESPN wants to be able to break stories 'live', why don't they just do what everyone else in the world does and broadcast live?
/g2
Based on last years final table payouts, they probably make 300K of interest (3%) over the 5 months or so of having that cash. (all approx.)
Unbelievable. Obviously a vain attempt at trying to capitalize even more on the event by the organizers. And I agree, this gives all the players so much time to come up with something creative to give them an unsolicted edge in the final matchup.
What happens if one or more players croak before November? Do they get blinded out? Does 10th spot take the seat?
edit; Sandro beat me by 10secs!
The World Series of Poker today officially announced that the final table of the 2008 main event will not compete on July 16 as originally scheduled but, instead, the players will reconvene Nov. 9-10.
The idea behind the change is to create more buzz, and, according to Jeffrey Pollack, the Commissioner of the WSOP, this will allow fans and viewers to ask “who will win” instead of seeing “who won.”
The rest of the 2008 WSOP schedule will remain the same.
Also allows each player to get sponsored up the ass prior to the event!! And God knows how hard its going to be on them having to wait that long. Can you imagine all the 'new friends' they'll each have?
Imagine making the final table and then having to wait 4 months to get your money. It's like winning the lottery. You go to the lottery office only to have them tell you that they want to create more buzz about your win. Come back in 4 months. Oh, and try to go about your normal every day life between now and then. You still need to work to pay your bills, even though, you technically are rich, just not yet.
This is the stupidest thing I have every heard of.
that would make sense, pay the minimum so you have some capital to get on with your life. Probably a pay per view special at $39.99.
The popularity of poker has been waning, if we, as more serious poker players, want to ensure that there are lots of new players (i.e. fishies), poker needs to regain some of it's 2005/2006 glory.
Delaying the final table could give media the opportunity to really build a story around the final table. Make the telecast more of an event, rather than a documentary of what already happened.
I dunno....I just don't think it's the worst thing that ever happened.
The commercialization of poker is profitable for good players.
As for what if someone dies...well, hell, what if someone dies at the table now? Eskimo Clark nearly did last year. Vinny Vinh's empty seat made the money not once, but twice, last year. Weird stuff happens....they'll figure it out.
I don't plan to play the ME or even a satellite, but personally, I wouldn't mind the delay. In the event that a finalist does not show up (e.g., dies of a heart attack, is murdered, or is too busy like coolblue24 to compete for $8 million+
I agree that another insurgency in popularity is warranted, I'm just not convinced if this will do it overall. Worth a shot though, if only for this year. I'll forego any further opinion until November.
True, and for those who do make final table, VERY profitable. The endorsements and sponsorships alone can greatly increase a players personal worth long before the first card is dealt at the final table.
I was more concerned about the time frame involved. I'm convinced that if Joe Average made it to the final nine, his/her first priority would be to spend those three months on player research and game study. Coaching would definitely be the first on my list of to gets, and every hand history I could find on my opponents would be number two. I'm just saying that due to the length of time between July and the final table being played, it would be an entirely different game than the one that started in July, and I'm not sure I like that dynamic of the proposal.
QFT! Love to see Freddie go back to back!
All nine will receive ninth-place prize money on July 14. The rest of the final table payouts will be put in an interest-bearing account. The interest earned will be added to the final-table prize pool as a bonus
Any math geeks out there willing to figure out how much of a "bonus" to the prize pool this might be?
That's not too bad... at least they don't make them wait forever for the money.