Same day TV coverage of this year's WSOP

Same day TV coverage of this year's WSOP

Thursday, 5 May 2011

As NFL star Terrell Owens once said, “get your popcorn ready, there's going to be a show”. We'll be needing buckets of the stuff this year as ESPN will be broadcasting 126 hours of coverage of this year's WSOP.

It looks like there'll be plenty of quality as well as quantity on offer as six days of the WSOP Main Event will be broadcast “as live” on a 30-minute delay, complete with hole cards. David Tuckman, no stranger to UK poker fans, will join Lon McEachern on commentary duties for the live stream with a string of pros (and of course Norman Chad) offering analysis (and jokes about various ex wives).


"For the first time viewers at home will have the best seats in the house for the World Series of Poker, poker's premier event. Fans will see hole cards postflop and get an inside look at all of the strategy, angst and competition of the world's best players vying for a seat at the most prestigious final table in the sport," said Matthew Volk, ESPN manager of programming and acquisitions.


"This is a historic milestone for ESPN and the WSOP," WSOP executive director Ty Stewart said. "The addition of live event-style coverage with hole cards in July and primetime shows leading up to the crowning of a champion in November provide our fans more access than ever before, and we are extremely proud to be with a company dedicated to realizing the potential of the game."


ESPN has also confirmed that it will be showing WSOP Grudge Matches, the $25,000 Heads-Up World Championship and the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship. These events will also be streamed live on ESPN3.com on a five-minute delay but without hole cards. Full edited highlights will be broadcast later in the year.


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Tags: WSOP, ESPN