Spoiler Esfandiari out in 24th, leaving Ivey the lone big name among the final 18, though he's very short-stacked. I think this Darvin Moon guy that's been leading for a couple of days is a freakin' logger. Got to catch a bit on Friday and few hours on Sunday before I flew back to town. Saw the following players: Antonio Esfandiari Phil Ivey Peter Eastgate Joe Hachem Miami John Cernuto Devilfish Ulliot Dan Harrington Dennis Phillips Elky Kevin O'Donnell T.J. Cloutier (not playing, but zipping through the casino crowd on his Rascal) That really goofy bald guy who kind of gets nervous and looks like a mad scientist
played a few big events this summer and had Hellmuth at my table twice (as well as Mike Matusow). I was unable to play the WSOP this year as it sold out and they turned me and about 300 others away. Great organization as usual.
LOL Billy Kopp just made one of the most r****ded plays in the history of the WSOP to go from huge chip stack to eliminated in 12th place. Dude is not going to be able to sleep for a month.
he really will lose a lot of sleep over that play... wow i can't believe he shoved all in at that point.. he could have cruised to the final table... unreal. maybe he was tired and he wasn't thinking straight.. why shove into a player who has you covered at this stage with your chipstack..
The second annual November Nine has been set! There are two notables left, Phil Ivey and Jeff Shulman. Shulman has made a prior main event final table. He was eliminated in 7th place the year Chris Ferguson won it. Funny enough, Jeff Shulman has a beef with Harrah's, who owns the WSOP and has stated that he will throw the bracelet in the trash if he wins.
Phil Ivey!!!! Poker fans will finally have a treat to watch at the final table for first time in awhile. This is probably the most skilled final table since about 2005 with Andy Black, Matusow, and Hachem. Ivey and Shulman, two highly respected pros, make me look forward to seeing the November Nine.
Before, WSOP coverage on ESPN seemed to be like a "How did they do it?" because the results to most poker fans were already known when it was played in July. Last year, WSOP instituted a delay until November (which is when the final table normally airs on ESPN) so that people don't know who the winner is and thus tune in to watch the final table. As a result, last year ESPN had its highest ratings ever for a final table.
wait they get to the final table in july then just have all the final table people wait till november to finish it off?
The TV ratings had been trending downward since the TV poker boom peaked. ESPN and Harrah's (who owns the WSOP) wanted to do something to create buzz in an attempt to increase the ratings. Last year was the first year that they did it and the ratings were up. I have a feeling the ratings will be huge (relative to other poker broadcasts) due to the fact that Phil Ivey has made the final table. This is great for poker!
The ratings will be monstrous. I predict that it'll be the highest rated poker program ever. Arguably the best player in the world in the biggest tournament of the year, with 4 months to build it up. Can you say, Hype.
No Asian guy? I haven't watched this season or the last even but I'm used to seeing some Asian dude make it. lol
I am yet to meet someone who DOESN'T hate Hellmuth. The guy is the biggest tool I've ever seen in all television. My favourite has to be Daniel Negreanu (sp?). I love him and Hachem (because i'm Aussie haha). Anyway, I haven't been following the tour this year. I have no idea what's happening. Ivey is an awesome player...
If the espn and the wsop really want this to be a true sporting event to watch on tv, they need to make the event a live event. What I don't get, is why the wsop HAS to have a tape delay. They need to run the wsop in 4 hour segments on saturday afternoon, then another on sunday afternoon and the final 2 players play for the cash that monday morning. What really gets me about espn's coverage is that all you see is the big hands. I mean last year the final two players they edited a 3 or 4 hour head up session to TWO freaking hands.
Because no one is going to watch live poker, at least not in the numbers that are necessary for it to be profitable. The final table can take upwards of 12 to 15 hours in some instances. The general population is not interested in raise, fold fold fold, re-raise, fold.
Im not so sure that is true. I mean the general public watches nascar and how mundane is it to see cars going in a circle for 4 hours. I am not suggesting 1 12 hour session. But I bet that for a final table, on a saturday and sunday afternoon, you'd get huge ratings for a 4 hour session, to be able to truly sweat phil ivey. There is a huge interest in poker, but espn ruins the coverage with only showing the knockout hands. I mean I can predict 90 percent of the outcomes of the hands when it gets to the final table.
I actually enjoy catching live streams of a few wsop final tables this year but I just don't think the general public would be interested. No hole cams and not a lot happening on most hands to keep a lot of people tuned in.
I enjoy watching live poker because it makes you think about what they're doing. I paid for the PPV event when they did final table live in 2006 and 2007.
