Victoria Coren, professional poker pro and columnist, has stated that the decision to delay the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event until November may have been the wrong one. In her column at the Guardian, Coren stated that Peter Eastgate’s win was downplayed as a result of the long wait from Harrah’s and ESPN.
Instead of the final table being played in June this year, Harrah’s Entertainment and ESPN decided to have a delay in game play so the television station could air their filmed episodes of the WSOP before a player could win the Main Event.
This way ESPN could get good ratings on the WSOP footage and then promote the final table. Players seemed to be on both sides of the fence on the issue of delaying the event. Johnny Chan and Daniel Negreanu both were in support of the decision as it could bring more anticipation to the event. Greg Raymer believed coaching could be involved for those who were to play at the final table and it also gave them more time to prepare.
Coren stated in her column that fans had lost interest as it took so long for the final table to take place. And this year’s final table winner achieved status as the youngest ever to win the WSOP Main Event, which is exciting for the game of poker.
Coren addressed Harrah’s saying:
“Don’t repeat the mistake next year. It wasn’t broke. You shouldn’t have fixed it.”