I saw some over the weekend. I like the live coverage, but unless you are one of the very few sitting at a televised featured table it didn't help the players. Even if you were at one of those tables, unless you had a buddy watching and calling you during the breaks to fill you in on what happened 30 minutes before, you're still out of luck.

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I miss YaHey

I'm sure there will be lots of replays of the highlights between now and November.

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I miss YaHey

I don't think they're able to use it to any advantage either.

I did hear the commentators mention something that led me to believe the players were watching the delayed coverage so they may be doing that to try to glean some kind of information.

I'm really enjoying watching it and the deep stack structure they have has really led to some great poker and the cream rising to the top - lots of professionals made deep runs this year.

Did you notice the players jumping up to talk to people on the rail every chance they got? I can assure you they weren't talking about where to go for a midnight snack. The app PokerGO also live streamed everything that wasn't on ESPN. Players not on the featured tables can have phones at the table so many of them were watching the broadcast while playing.

I also know all of the good players and as many friends as they can find are now studying the film to find any betting and physical tells they can. Poker is a game of unknown information. The best players have an uncanny ability to obtain that information, one way or another.

Scott Blumstein was once the top ranked online player. He's clearly the favorite at this point and Ben Lamb is my sleeper. A notoriously crazy prop bettor, Bill Perkins, bet $30k on Ben Lamb at 50/1 at the start of the tourney. Stupid horrible bet with almost 8k entrants, but would look genius if Lamb pulled it off.

I noticed that as well - not surprising though and I don't think it's a problem. Do you think this is an issue? I've just thought about it surface-level so would be interested in other insights.

Lamb is one of my favorite players - have liked him since his first appearance a few years ago. Apparently, he plays in pretty big games when he's not at the WSOP - and you're right - 50/1 is crazy!

SO basically players are finding out if their opponent was bluffing on the last hand I guess?

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

replying to you and BleP since the same question was posed. I don't think it is an issue as far as integrity of the game goes as they are on at least a 30 minute delay so no chance of cheating, per se. However, it is slightly unfair to some players that are on the featured table more than others. Those players tendencies are much more exposed and therefore can be taken advantage of to a greater degree than players who never play on the featured table. Some of the players care more than others, but everyone knows it's good for the game as a whole. I think the live coverage via ESPN/PokerGo, along with moving the final table to Thurs-Sat instead of November, were very intelligent moves. That seems to be the majority consensus in the poker community as well. However, live poker can be extremely boring, especially this late in the tourney where the pay jumps can be huge!! Lots of folding and little post flop play. I am guessing the next step to make live poker more watchable is going to be some type of "shot clock" where players only have x seconds to act. It is already employed in some tournaments and does wonders to speed up play.

I don't think they're able to use it to any advantage either. //

The coverage has been outstanding, just wish it was all on ESPN and not flipping to Poker Go. And it is a ton of information that these guys are getting, a huge advantage for some. You know why pros almost never show their cards unless at showdown, they don't want to give one bit of information away. Now you have basically everyone showing face up their cards in each and every hand, that is a ton of information, and a validation to the good folders. It also shows the % of weak starting hands and bluffs each is running.


Now of course really good pros with great rails will try the Jedi mind tricks. Go a stretch playing one way, and then mix it up to confuse the others. It is really hard to do at this level, and amateurs have a tendency to play the same type of game throughout. The pros love that, and this affords them the information to see just how they are playing.


The only bigger advantage there could be is the immediate real time(minus the hand concluding of course) showing of the cards. I like Ben Lamb too, but the final table is a very tricky navigation unless you are a huge chip leader. And that 50/1 bet on him, it was like a dollar to us, dude who bet it loses millions playing against all these guys, a hobby rich guy player who has more money than poker smarts.

A question on the upcoming coverage, I can see it on my guide for tomorrow, but nothing for Friday and Saturday, I'm assuming it is all on ESPN 2? Anyone know what is up with this?

I'm seeing it on my channel guide on ESPN from 9 to 11 Friday and Saturday; 9 to midnight tonight on ESPN2.

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I miss YaHey

Thanks, I see they moved the coverage to the primary channel for the last two sessions, got the dvr set!

Me too!

Between this the the British Open (and my daughter being away this weekend), it's going to be a feast of Poker and Golf!

For me it is the mountain stages of the TDF and poker, get home after a long beach day and my night is set!!!

Cheers! Let's have a drink in our respective places of glorious temporary solitude!

That was some unbelievable poker that was played on the final table. Blumstein's fold of the 2nd nut flush when there was no indication that the other guy even had an ace was unreal. Like he could see through the cards somehow. Best playing of a big stack I have see in a long time, fearless.

Now hope he can get a trainer and lose some weight, be a shame to have a heart attack in his mid 20's with 8 million in the bank...

Not as hard a fold as it seems. Pollack is a very solid player and capable of bluffing in that spot.....in any other tournament. He had shown zero ability at this particular final table to have the heart to bluff in this spot. Best hand at the entire final table was Blum's three barrel bluff with Kc on Acxcxc flop. Board texture ran out perfectly. The set of balls to do this is ridiculous. Changed the momentum and put Ott back in the spot of having to slow down because of the stack sizes. Blumfield hit a ton of hands, but played about as well as he could have. Impressive play and very fun FT to follow.

I agree that the 3 barrel bluff was ballsy, but of course Ott only had a smallish pair to hang onto and it would have been way out of line to have called that all in bet. He could have shoved early I guess, but he was still playing at that time and the over cards were killers.

But that fold is still big in my mind. Remember that they all knew what hands they were raising and shoving with(30 minute delay of course) and Pollock was almost always raising or shoving with in ace or worse hands. As I recall it was a limp on that hand so thinking he had any ace, especially the one and only card in the deck that beats him would have been a small % of his range at that moment(in my mind at least). Add to that he had the stack that could take the hit and still be fine, well I could not have folded there in his shoes.

He played great and had good cards. Not as good as Jamie Golds run of cards though, but he made up for it with spectacular play. Hard to believe he has played most of his short career online too, he seemed to have great reads on everyone..

I was out of town all weekend so I set my DVR to record it all, and missed the end of every night's coverage. There were still 3 at the table at the end of Sat night's broadcast.

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I miss YaHey

Just finished watching this. What a great WSOP - the semi-live coverage lent such a component of suspense in contrast with previous years where you knew it was coming because you knew when the episode was scheduled to end.

I thought Blumstein's play was very good, but also thought Ott's was very passive with respect to his stack and the way the blinds were eating him alive. He seemed to be waiting for a big hand to double him up before he was going to play. That and the way Blumstein played and kept getting cards just doomed Ott from the start.

I agree - dude needs to get some help with the lbs - seems like a very nice young man - just needs to get into some kind of healthy shape to enjoy his accomplishment for a long time.

Now I'm saving up to try to play in the $1,500 no-limit even next year.

twomarks

Now I'm saving up to try to play in the $1,500 no-limit even next year. //

Before I had all these kids I would go to Vegas and do the 1.5k seniors tourney and maybe one of the 1k buy ins too. Then there is everyday a $200 tourney that pays like 20k to 60k to win each night. And the last time I went there was a $600 senior event at the Bellagio I think the day after day one of the WSOP seniors. Pretty smart as that WSOP event would get about 4k+ people, over 3k which would bust out on day 1. Lot of old dudes wanting to get back in game and this one was great, I got like 60+th or so one year there..


I have heard talk of a super seniors tourney, I should be ready and old enough by then. Old guys are so much easier to read and they mostly play straight up ABC poker. After over 10+ years of the senior tourney there are now a bunch of old internet players to weave through now, just like the lower buy ins with nearly 5k people in them now...

I was out of town all weekend so I set my DVR to record it all, and missed the end of every night's coverage. There were still 3 at the table at the end of Sat night's broadcast. //

I did that a few years ago and now I know to record the next 3 or 4 shows on the channel after the scheduled show. One year I had something like an extra 5 hours recorded after and still missed the last hands, I feel your pain.. I do believe that some of the shows will show up on your on demand lists though, so you got that going for you...

I remembered that my TV provider, Cincinnati Bell FiOptics, offers "catch-up TV". I was able to scroll backwards to Saturday night/ Sunday morning on the channel guide and hit play and just now finally finished watching . The downside to that is it did not allow any fast-forward functionality.

What an ending!

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I miss YaHey