WSOP Executive Wants To Broadcast Main Event Final Table Live Next Year

I doubt it will happen, but Ty Stewart, Director of Sponsorship and Marketing for the World Series of Poker, had an interesting idea:

He wants to broadcast the Main Event final table LIVE.

WITH HOLE CARDS.

The idea would be to play down to the final table and then adjourn the Series. All the other episodes of the Main Event would air and TV would have a couple months to get to know the players. Then they would reconvene and play a sequestered final table and the later portion of the final table would be broadcast live. The audience would see every player's cards and commentators would be able to analyze the strategy in real time.

Potential problems abound: technical issues, gaming control issues, player reaction, broadcaster reaction. But Ty Stewart sees The Big Picture. This has the potential to turn televised poker into a fringe sports-like activity with a loyal but scattered audience into a reality-programming phenomenon on the order of Survivor, American Idol, or Dancing with the Stars.

Michael Craig's follow-up post has more information.