Bodog Beat

Harrah's and the WSOP have announced a huge change to the the final table of the 2008 WSOP Main Event. (Bodog Beat Image)

Well, the rumors have been circulating around the poker world on blogs and forums for quite some time, but Harrah's and the WSOP officially confirmed the facts earlier this morning:

The final table of the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event will be played out on November 9-10 instead of the originally scheduled date of July 16.

Yeh, this isn't just a change of start time for an Omaha Hi/Lo 8OB event sometime in mid-June, this is a huge change to the richest poker tournament in the world. The thousands upon thousands of entrants in the Main Event will play down to the final nine as the schedule originally indicated, but now that final table will take place some four months later.

“Our intent is to provide an even bigger stage for our players,” said Jeffrey Pollack, Commissioner of the World Series of Poker. “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.”

Obviously, the arguments have been vociferous in support and opposition of this plan and have ranged from the concern that players will have time to get tutored and watch tape for the tells of their opponents, to the positive ability of ESPN to hype up these playes so they're not just some group of unknowns, giving poker more exposure and these players more opportunity to secure lucrative final table deals from sponsors. Of course, ESPN will also get a chance to sell ad space due to what will surely be increased ratings, but that much is obvious.

No matter which side of the argument you may fall on, Harrah's and the WSOP went through the due diligence of discussing the proposed change with all of the appropriate parties, including the WSOP Players Advisory Council (PAC), the commissioner-appointed committee of professional and amateur poker players who provide guidance and perspective to the WSOP leadership team.

As a result, the plan has strong support in the poker community from some of it's biggest names.

“This is a huge step forward for poker and more specifically poker on television because it will help create more buzz around the final table and that is good for all of us,” said Daniel Negreanu, a WSOP PAC member. “Not only will this innovative step create more buzz for the final table, the added time prior to the final table will help get poker mainstream media attention.”

The winner of the Main Event is expected to be crowned in the early hours of November 11. ESPN will then edit the two-day Final Table action and televise it in a two-hour program from 9:00-11:00 PM ET on Tuesday, November 11 just hours after the final table wraps up.

Here is the TV schedule for the 2008 WSOP Main Event as it stands:

Sept. 2 to Oct. 28 - Event 55: $10,000 no-limit hold 'em main event
Nov. 4 - Event 55: WSOP main event final table preview show
Nov. 11 - Event 55: WSOP main event final table

As it is with all big changes like this, only time will tell if this is the correct move for the WSOP and whether or not it will generate the added interest that it is supposed to create. The silver lining for us is that this means one less day in the Rio, and that's gotta count for something.

2008 WSOP online poker qualifiers

Charles Simmons regularly contributes poker news to the Bodog Beat.