Poker fans waited all summer for the Main Event Final Table in the World Series of Poker and it was not worth the wait.  The November 9 provided little excitement despite the fact that Phil Ivey (considered the best poker player in the world) was sitting at the table.  But once again ESPN decided that the poker play and the TV viewer wasn’t important and botched a golden opportunity.

For those who aren’t aware, the tournament played out earlier in 2009 over 8 days until they were left with the final 9 players.  Then ESPN took all the footage and put together a great fall of the World Series Main Event leading up to the Final Table.  The Final Table was then played a few days ago and aired on ESPN Tuesday night.

I for one was excited about the Final Table and watched every episode of the Main Event leading up to it, but found myself annoyed after my 2 hours of watching the Final Table. 

Perhaps the the biggest question I have is why or how can ESPN have a show that was prerecorded run over its 2 hour allowance and not tell viewers?  Anyone who set their Tivo or DVR, like me, was cut off at 11:00 right when the final two were set to go heads up!  In a world where shows are estimating anywhere from a 1 to 5 million increase of their viewership from those who record and watch later you’d think ESPN would not want to make these fans upset.  Nonetheless they went over and treated it like no big deal with just a smug note at the bottom of the screen for what they called a “program alert”.  Thanks, I’ll jump in my time machine and go back and record the next hour of ESPN now that I see that note a day later!

Before the Main Event ESPN promised more poker this year with more coverage and more hands shown at the World Series.  They added an hour each week and did a nice job of taking you around the room and keeping you up with what was happening.  Then they get to the Final Table and it’s like they forgot what they did all year.  They played less hands and added more junk.  I could care less about Steve Begleiter’s family and what his kids think of him making the final 9.  No offense Steve, I’m sure your family is great, but I want poker!  They spent so much time on the crowd and reactions from the fans.  At one point Phil Ivey was all-in against Darvin Moon and it took forever for them to play the hand because they just kept drawing it out letting the fans dictate the pace (he almost ate his entire apple during that time).

Then just as you were getting in to a few hands they’d take a break and when they came back someone else would be all-in and you were left wondering “how’d this happen”?  Many times you left the action with one person being the low stack on the table and when they would return that person would have 4 or 5 million more chips.  HOW???

Many facets of the table were left out.  So much was mentioned about Phil Ivey possibly winning and so little was said about Jeff Shulman making his second final table in the last ten years, something only two other players have accomplished (Harrington and Matusow).

Maybe it’s just me.  Maybe it’s the fact the guy who won really didn’t deserve it since he sucked out time after time and played bad poker, but the Final Table was a big let down and it really didn’t have to be.

Thanks ESPN for ruining what WAS a pretty good World Series of Poker.