The World Series of Poker action may have just ended at the Rio All-Suite Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, but poker fans can now catch up on everything (read: not everything) that happened by tuning in to ESPN from this week through the end of the Main Event in November.
The telecasts kicked off last night with the first of three episodes of the million dollar buy-in Big One for One Drop tournament. The event’s broadcasts will continue the next two Tuesdays, running from 8:00pm to 10:00pm ET each night.
During last night’s episode, we saw what ESPN is billing as possible the worst beat in the history of tournament poker. With 19 players left and the tournament paying to eight places, Cary Katz, CEO of College Loan Corporation, opened the betting with a raise to 225,000, holding A♠-A♥. Action folded around to Connor Drinan, who held the other two Aces, A♦-A♣. The two naturally pondered their moves from there, as they obviously didn’t know what the other had and were likely trying to figure out how to maximize the pot without losing the other player. Eventually, Drinan ended up all-in and Katz insta-called, as one would expect.
Katz jokingly asked if they could just chop and Scott Seiver chimed in, “I’m not saying this could happen, but this is how I busted with eleven left in the 10K last week.”
The flop was 2♦-K♥-5♥, giving Katz a chance at a runner-runner flush. He and Drinan joked about what could happen, but neither likely thought it was possible. The 4♥ on the turn got the table excited and Antonio Esfandiari, the first champ of the Big One for One Drop, got a devilish look on his face, saying, “It could happen.”
And it did. The 2♥ on the river gave Katz the flush, eliminating Drinan short of the money in a million dollar tournament.
Back to the schedule. After the three Big One episodes air, the WSOP will take a break for a while and then return on Sunday, September 28th with the Main Event. It is an interesting move for ESPN, as by putting the Main Event on Sunday nights from 9:00pm to 11:00pm ET, it is going up directly against NBC’s Sunday Night Football, not only one of the most popular shows of the week, but likely one that has a sizeable overlap with the WSOP’s primary audience.
Six more Sunday night episodes will follow until the November Nine reconvene for the final table. The final table will be broadcast nearly live with just a short delay starting on November 10th at 9:00pm ET. That broadcast will go until two players remain, who will come back at the same time the next day for the concluding episode of the 2014 World Series of Poker.
2014 World Series of Poker ESPN Broadcast Schedule
July 29th – 8:00pm-10:00pm ET – Big One for One Drop
August 5th – 8:00pm-10:00pm ET – Big One for One Drop
August 12th – 8:00pm-10:00pm ET – Big One for One Drop
September 28th – 9:00pm-11:00pm ET – Main Event
October 5th – 9:00pm-11:00pm ET – Main Event
October 12th – 9:00pm-11:00pm ET – Main Event
October 19th – 9:00pm-11:00pm ET – Main Event
October 26th – 9:00pm-11:00pm ET – Main Event
November 2nd – 9:00pm-11:00pm ET – Main Event
November 9th – 9:00pm-11:00pm ET – Main Event
November 10th – 9:00pm ET – Main Event Final Table
November 11th – 9:00pm ET – Main Event Final Table