That's a Wrap - for me

I turned in my badge and my vest to the Rio Uniform Shop.  For me the WSOP is over - even though it continues.  The Main Event continues with over a hundred players left out of the original 7,400+ entrants.  They are now in Day 6 and will play until they get down to the final nine players, then they will take a break until November and the final nine will play down to a winner.

A break?  Sounds odd.  Here is the deal.  ESPN has found that WSOP broadcasts hold a larger audience than any other ESPN show outside of football.  ESPN decided that showing all of the episodes when everybody already knows the outcome is sort of anticlimactic.  To improve the show they came to an agreement with Harrah's that they would film all of the WSOP, create the television shows, broadcast them as a series throughout the summer and fall, then, in November, bring back the final nine and broadcast the final table and decide a winner with a "near real-time" telecast.  ESPN figures to boost their ratings by keeping the suspense up.  The Final Table will be played, not in the Amazon Room where most of the tournament was held, but on the big stage in the Rio's Penn and Teller Theatre in front of a packed live theatre audience with everyone miked up and the latest in ESPN's video technology in use to create the show.

I find it interesting that "final table" Poker is very different to the Poker played for most all of the event.  The Main Event is a "deep stack" tournament.  Players start the tournament with $30,000 and with the blinds set at $50 and $100.  The blinds escalate very slowly to put pressure on the smaller stacks.  The style of Poker played for most of the tournament is very different from what you will see at the final table.  On television you will see a series of hands played out where a player is "All In" and there are more cards to come.  Announcers will describe the probability of their survival or double up depending on how the cards lie and what cards they need to make a winning hand.  They will show every bust out.

During the course of the tournament, however, while yes,  players are busting out regularly, the vast majority of hands are decided without a showdown.  Players bet, raise and re-raise until they figure out they cannot make their opponent fold and they will likely lose in a showdown, so they fold their hand and the pot is pushed to the winner who is not required to show the hand.  It is quite possible to deal 20 or more hands in a tournament in a row without ever seeing a showdown - just a series of bets, raises and folds.  The essence of deep stack Poker is in the decisions made on every street:  Should I check, bet, raise or fold? As opposed to short stack poker where the decision is limited to:  Do I shove it in now or should I wait for a better spot?

Deep stack Poker is much more interesting and I hope ESPN shows a lot of it as opposed to just the "All in and a call" hands.