World Series of Poker Final Table Set To Move Back To Summer

Published on May 16th, 2017 3:36 am EST

The "November Nine" is dead.

Earlier today, the World Series of Poker announced that Poker Central has acquired the global television and digital media rights to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

Poker Central and ESPN have reached an agreement which will see coverage of the annual main event expanded. According to the press release, ESPN will broadcast roughly 40 hours of live WSOP main event action, with the remainder being streamed through "Poker Central's digital distribution channels". This will include 10 straight days of WSOP main event action being broadcast on ESPN/ESPN2, as well as three days of live final table coverage.

The big story from today's press release? The "November Nine" concept is being axed, as the World Series of Poker main event final table will now run from July 20th to July 22nd. The main event will run from July 8th until July 17th - after that, there will be a two day pause to let the final table participants rest. The main event will resume on July 20th and conclude on July 22nd.

The deal between Poker Central and ESPN will run until 2020.

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The "November Nine" concept has never been really popular with players or fans of the game.

The concept was first introduced in an effort to improve ratings, though many people felt as though the main event suffered from having such a long break. These people can now rejoice, as the winner of the World Series of Poker main event will now be crowned in July.

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All in all, this deal is a win/win for fans of televised poker, as ESPN will be broadcasting much more content, while the "November Nine" concept will be coming to an end.

Source: WSOP.com - WSOP Main Event To Air Live Daily From July 8 - 17, 20-22

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Filed Under: The World Series of Poker