Now that the final nine competitors for this year's World Series Of Poker (WSOP) are known, American sports network ESPN has released its broadcaster schedule for the tournament with a total of four events set to be televised.
ESPN revealed that it would begin its coverage this Tuesday from eight o'clock in the evening New York time with a two-hour review of the $40,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament, which was held to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the WSOP.
The following Tuesday, August 4, ESPN will broadcast all of the action from the WSOP Champions Invitational beginning from eight o'clock in the evening. This two-hour programme will feature Norman Chad and Lon McEachern commentating on all of the action including the presentation of a new car and the Binion Cup.
The third event ESPN has committed to airing is the successful Ante Up For Africa charity tournament, which will be broadcast over two hours from eight o'clock in the evening on August 11. This is the first time the sports broadcaster has featured this special event and viewers will be able to watch celebrities including Charles Barkley, Adam Sandler, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Ray Romano and Brad Garrett share the tables with some of the biggest names in poker.
Beginning on August 18 from eight o'clock in the evening, ESPN will begin broadcasting action from the WSOP's main event. The action will commence with coverage of the four Day One competitions every subsequent Tuesday evening from the same time with two hours of programming for each. Day TwoA will air on September 15 followed by Day TwoB and September 22 and this format will continue until Day Eight airs on November 3.
In Las Vegas, the main event will play down from nine players to two on November 7 with the final pair going heads-up on November 10. ESPN is due to run a one-hour preview show on the November Nine that day from eight o'clock in the evening immediately followed by two hours of final table action where the winner will be decided.