World Series of Poker Final Table Tonight -- Finally

Jake Kalish — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:33:00 GMT

The World Series of Poker final table is tonight at 9 on ESPN, immediately after a "Countdown To The Final Table" one-hour lead-in show. This is big news to all of us who spend a whole lot of time playing and watching poker (and talking to uninterested people about poker) instead of doing our actual work, because for the first time, the WSOP is running the event kinda, sorta, almost live. Previously, the Series wrapped in early July, and wouldn't be broadcast until the fall. Problem with that was, as with Mad Men, spoilers. The people who were really interested invariably found out the winner, via the evil of the internet.

So now, even though the rest of the World Series was played in July, the final table is being played in November, and being run live... ish.

"Ish," we say? Yes, "Ish."

See, the problem with televising poker actually live is that, most of the time, nothing happens - it's kinda boring, and it has no built-in time limit. A final table could last 4, 5 hours. So the final table was actually played a couple of days ago - except for the final two heads-up for the championship -- so ESPN could edit together the most exciting parts, before going heads-up. It's an interesting, weird compromise of a solution -- kind of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" of the card world. So, though you could easily find out who the final two players are, we won't blow up ESPN's spot. But we will give you a hint: it's not the guy pictured above, Stuey Ungar, horrific drug addict and probably the all-around greatest card player who ever lived. Because he's dead.

-- Jake Kalish is the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights

The Remote Island : Stuey Ungar

World Series of Poker Final Table Tonight -- Finally