The Capitalization of Poker: The WSOP ME Delayed

So as any hard core poker fan has already heard Harrah's Caesar's Entertainment announced today that they will be delaying the WSOP Main Event final table 117 days (yes your eyes have not deceived you) and will play the final table November 9th. They will play down from 9 to 2 players and the HU battle will take place on November 10th with the final table airing at 9:00pm est on ESPN and going for 2 hours on November 11th. Harrahs and ESPN's goal in doing this is to increase their pocket books top poker franchise and make it a spectacle comparable to other top sporting events such as the Super Bowl. According to Jeffrey Pollack and I'm paraphrasing, they want to create 9 stars instead of just 1. They want to create must see TV and this will create anticipation and hype that is unprecedented in poker history.

After listening to the entire conference call, I can only conclude that they are only looking out for themselves and their sponsors. I personally do not like this decision and think that it can lead to many negative consequences. Top on-line player and former Poker Stars employee Terrence Chan had this to say on his blog and I completely agree:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/poker/2008-04-30-WSOP_N.htm

"They pretty much have all the bases covered (coaching, studying video, increased bidding for sponsorships) as far as I can see, but there will probably be some weird unintended consequence that no one foresaw. This is probably the single greatest argument against it. Consider this: they're running an experiment on the biggest prize in the game with something like a combined $20-25 million in player money at stake! It's ludicrous. You don't just dramatically change the format of the biggest tournament in the world with absolutely no precedent or trial run. To my knowledge, not once in the entire history of poker has a final table run four months after they break for it. And they decide the best time to try it for the first time is the main event of the World Series?

This is so stupid that I almost hope there's some massive clusterfuck. Not really, since that would be quite bad for poker and I'd feel really bad for any of the players affected, but seriously, the arrogance of a decision like this blows my mind."

What I don't get and bugs me the most is the fact that ESPN is only going to do a 2 hour broadcast of the final table. It is still going to be shovefest instead of showing what Daniel Negreanu thinks "You're going to see some really kind of more sophisticated play,". What's the point of doing this if you are not showing this live (w/holecards) or showing 4-5 hours. I'm sure with today's technology, ESPN could easily show the final table live (w/necessary 1-2 hour delay to prevent any sort of collusion). Bluff did this last year with there secluded final table which they aired on-line (not sure if they showed hole cards though).

BJ Nemeth asked about the live Internet coverage and whether Internet sites will be able to report hand histories and report the final two and eventual winner. Pollack stated that they are blowing the doors wide open and will allow any credentialed media person report whatever they see during the final table before the ESPN airing. Once again, to me this is no different then if I knew for 2 months before it aired on ESPN. Yes, the results will be 12-24 hours old but I will still know who the winner is before it airs. ESPN would do better to broadcast live

I truly hopes this works and will of course be watching November 11th but I have serious reservations and I think this in the long run this will create more of a backlash then create the publicity that Harrahs and ESPN wants.