The WSOP issued a press release this morning that announced that the final table of the main event will occur on November 9th - 10th. Here are the pertinent parts of the press release:

The last nine players of the $10,000 World Championship of No-Limit Texas Hold’em, known as the Main Event, will compete on November 9-10 instead of the originally scheduled date of July 16.

“Our intent is to provide an even bigger stage for our players,” said Jeffrey Pollack, Commissioner of the World Series of Poker. “Now fans and viewers will ask ‘who will win’ our coveted championship bracelet instead of seeing ‘who won.’ The excitement and interest surrounding our final nine players will be unprecedented.”

This change in how the Main Event final table is staged will bring the excitement and drama of high-stakes WSOP tournament play closer to millions of fans around the globe.

All other 2008 WSOP tournament structures and schedules remain unchanged. This announcement affects only the final nine players of Event #54, the Main Event World Championship.

Continuing the trailblazing efforts that have made the WSOP the industry standard, this move is being made in close collaboration with ESPN, the television rightsholder of the WSOP, and the WSOP Players Advisory Council (PAC), the commissioner-appointed committee of professional and amateur poker players who provide guidance and perspective to the WSOP leadership team.

"It's an exciting time for the World Series of Poker and ESPN," said Jamie Horowitz, senior producer, ESPN Content Development. "This adjustment will add a new element to a very successful and popular event. We look forward to documenting all of the exciting stories that make the WSOP Main Event the seminal competition in all of poker."

“This is a huge step forward for poker and more specifically poker on television because it will help create more buzz around the final table and that is good for all of us,” said Daniel Negreanu, a WSOP PAC member, three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and one of today’s most successful and popular poker professionals. “Not only will this innovative step create more buzz for the final table, the added time prior to the final table will help get poker mainstream media attention. I’m very excited about this decision and can’t wait to see it all unfold, hopefully from a seat at the final table!”

The 39th annual World Series of Poker will take place from May 30th to July 14th at the Rio® All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The Main Event will begin on July 3rd, with the Final Table being determined on July 14th. The nine players who advance to the Final Table will return to the Rio on November 9th to play down to just two players. The final two, will go head-to-head late in the evening on November 10th to determine the champion and winner of poker’s ultimate prize.

The winner of the Main Event is expected to be crowned in the early hours of November 11. ESPN will edit the two-day Final Table action and televise it in a two-hour program from 9:00-11:00 PM ET on Tuesday, November 11 just hours after the winner is crowned. This is akin to television coverage of the Olympic Games, where because of time zone differences, the telecaster schedules programs “same day” in primetime to provide the largest possible audience a convenient viewing time.

ESPN will begin its coverage of the 2008 World Series of Poker on Tuesday, July 22. Viewers will see two hours of original poker programming every Tuesday through November 11 (except November 4 when a special preview of the Final Table will be aired at 10 p.m.). Telecasts will be aired at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. July 22 through September 30 and at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. from October 7 through November 11.

Each of the players who make it to the WSOP Main Event Final Table will receive ninth place prize money on July 14, when the finalists are determined. Harrah’s will then provide each of those players with an all expense paid trip for two for their return to Las Vegas in November to play the final portion of the tournament.

From July 14 to November 9, a span of 117 days, players will have an opportunity to line up sponsorships, coaches, review the play of all their competitors, participate in other tournaments, and take advantage of the new publicity and promotional opportunities that will be available.

I'm not a fan of this move. But let me point out the good with the bad:

The Good:

• Potentially heightened interest in the event;


• Potentially drawing more individuals into poker;


• Potentially higher ratings.

The Bad:

• Potential problems if something happens to an individual who makes the final table;


• Potential security issues;


• Potential for lowered interest in the event;


• Potential attendance issues.

This could draw more people into poker. This could draw higher ratings. This could help me sell more poker books. Players can get sponsors (though they can get them in the one day before the main event).

Now, the bad. I am now going into events that aren't likely to happen, but....
Threats, both real and imagined. Let's assume the first prize is the same as in 2007 (about $6 million), and everyone has received about $600,000. That's $5.4 million being fought over. There's lots of time for collusion efforts. There's lots of time for someone to threaten someone else. You may think these are ridiculous points, but people have been murdered for a lot less than $5.4 million. Or suppose that Jane Doe is a member of an organized crime syndicate and happens to make the final table. I know, it's very, very unlikely but to think these couldn't happen is ignoring human nature.

Suppose I qualified for the final table, and on November 7th I suffer a heart attack and am hospitalized. What happens? Or suppose that final table participant John Smith is run over by a truck in October. What happens?

This will also be a problem for some individuals, especially the amateurs. Many individuals have restrictions on how much vacation they can take. If they knew they'd get the first prize, that's one thing; but for others one trip to Vegas is all they can do.

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I'm probably missing some points here, but I'll leave that to others to append to this list.