There are quite a few changes in store for anyone checking out the 2010 WSOP schedule: The tournament series will still feature 57 tournaments, but there seems to be a new emphasis on lower buy-in, and larger buy-in events.

* The $50k HORSE tournament has been replaced with the $50k Players Championship –an 8-game mix featuring a final table of strictly No Limit Holdem—which will put the event with the largest buy-in back into ESPN’s TV schedule. The HORSE tournament is now one of the $10k Championship Events.

* A $25k 6-Max No Limit Holdem event has been added in an effort to cash in on the short-handed trend that is sweeping the high-stakes online poker games.

* Last year’s $1,000 tournament was such a success that the 2010 schedule boasts six of these events –one will be held each week for five weeks, and the final $1,000 tournament will be held on July 2nd—all of the $1k events will be No Limit Holdem.

The 2010 World Series of Poker schedule has been released, and there are some fascinating changes to the tournament series –and even more fascinating non-changes, such as the decision to continue to have a long 4-month break in the action before the final table is concluded.

The reasons given are always to give ESPN a chance to promote the WSOP and increase TV ratings, and to televise the event as close to the conclusion as possible so as not to spoil the results for people. Unfortunately, neither reason holds any weight.

As far as increased ratings go; despite the same structure in 2009 –and having poker’s most popular player at the final table—the ratings for the 2009 WSOP Main Event were down slightly from the year before.

And in the age of the Internet, where people get there news within minutes of it happening, it’s virtually impossible not to know the results unless you disconnect your computer, blackberry, and any other Internet outlet you may have. Every homepage, from Yahoo to Google, will have the WSOP in its featured headlines, and if you subscribe to any type of E-Mail alert the results are sure to show up in your inbox.

For whatever reason ESPN decided the long interruption would be good for ratings, despite the fact that before the hiatus WSOP coverage created a strong buzz, and the network had strong ratings for the episodes.

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In another move that shows how television has truly taken over poker, Harrah’s announced on Thursday that they will be changing the $50k HORSE Tournament to an 8-Game Mix that will feature a final table of exclusively No Limit Texas Holdem –I know you must be as shocked as I am *sarcasm*.

The move comes on the heels of ESPN dropping the HORSE tournament from its television schedule during the 2009 WSOP as they made the move to broadcast only No Limit Holdem events. Perhaps because it was removed from the television schedule the tournament saw a dramatic decline in attendance –the tournament had drawn close to 150 entrants the previous year, but managed only 95 in 2009.

The HORSE Tournament has taken on special meaning since it was renamed in honor of poker legend David “Chip” Reese who passed away in 2007, and was the inaugural champion of the event. Reese was considered by many as one of the greatest all-around poker players in the history of the game.

This could well be the biggest surprise of the WSOP: ESPN’ ratings for the 2009 WSOP final table suffered a .1% drop-off from 2008. Garnering a 1.8% share, the coverage still pulled in 2.1 million viewers, but the poker industry was expecting a boon from a final table that included Phil Ivey and Cardplayer Magazine editor Jeff Shulman.

The ratings drop has likely brought an end to the 3-month layoff from when the final table is decided to when it is played. If ESPN and Harrah’s were unable to market the 2009 final table, it’s unlikely three months, or three years would be a sufficient amount of time to create a buzz. It would appear they are better off capitalizing on the moment when the WSOP is at its peak.

ESPN can still televise the Main Event all the way to the final table virtually live –simply by doing the editing work they did for the final table—and could simply broadcast the preliminary events after the Main Event: Something most poker fans wouldn’t bat an eyelash at. As a weekly telecast the coverage doesn’t need to build to a crescendo.

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If you missed the action from the final table of the WSOP (World Series of Poker), due to the fact you couldn’t make it out to Vegas or you missed it on TV, PokerTube.com have now all the action up from the final table.

The videos cover from the very start till the finish of the WSOP final table. Below you will find a brief explaination of each video.

2009 WSOP final table part 1

See the build up to the WSOP final table and the first few hands of the WSOP final table.

2009 WSOP final table part2

See the main hands from the start of the WSOP.

2009 WSOP final table part 3

See Darvin Moon’s pre final table preporation and watch how James Akinhead and Kevin Schaffel get busted from the WSOP final table.

2009 WSOP final table part 4

Watch the action from the WSOP final table and see Darvin Moon move up and down in chips.

2009 WSOP final table part 5

Watch Phil Ivey’s WSOP profile and some more action from the WSOP final table.

2009 WSOP final table part 6

Watch how Phil Ivey busts out of the WSOP final table also watch how Steven Begleiter and Jeff Shulman bust out of the 2009 WSOP final table.

2009 WSOP final table part 7

Watch Saout cripple Buchman and Darvin Moon finish him off. Also watch Antione Saout go from chip leader to out.

2009 WSOP final table part 8

Watch all the heads up action from the 2009 heads up action between Joe Cada and Darvin Moon.

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ESPN’s coverage of the 2009 World Series of Poker final table will air tonight –Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 9PM. The highlight of the final table will be the inclusion of poker megastar Phil Ivey as he looks to capture his 3rd WSOP bracelet this year –8th overall– and first Main Event bracelet.
The 2-hour telecast will feature the final 9 players culminating with a heads-up battle for the $8.5 million first place prize-money.
The final table began on Saturday, and play concluded last night; giving ESPN a scant amount of time to edit the action down to fit into a 2-hour broadcast. There were many interesting and exciting hands that took place this year which should make for a very action packed episode.

Spoilers***
Look for Darvin Moon’s chip stack to go up and down with many unorthodox plays
Antoine Saout is the biggest surprise at the final table
Shulman and Ivey –the two biggest names—have very few opportunities to get going

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The statement appears odd, but the 21 year-old Cada held off his lesser experienced opponent, the 47 year-old Moon, to become the World Series of Poker’s youngest champion of all-time –eclipsing the mark set a year ago by 2008 champion Peter Eastgate.

Cada entered the heads-up duel with a seemingly insurmountable chip-lead, but all that vanished after the first hand: Darvin Moon made one of those unorthodox plays –limping and flat-calling a raise with pocket Queens– that can either win you a big pot, or more often than not, blow up in your face. Fortunately for Moon it paid off big time, as he added near 25 million chips to his stack when Cada showed pocket nines at the river.

At one point Moon had a 3-to-1 chip-lead over the online poker pro, until this hand occurred that turned the tide of the match: With the board reading 10-9-5-10 Cada bet his 3 million; Moon moved all-in, and Cada called for his remaining 50 million chips: Cada’s J9 was able to hold up against Moons 78.

A few hands later Moon once again displayed his ‘happy to just be here attitude’ when he insta-called an all-in re-raise with QJs: Cada’s pocket Nines –the hand he started the tournament with—were able to hold up, and with that, a teary-eyed Joe Cada became the 2009 WSOP champion.

Why do I think the heads-up battle will be short and sweet? Well I have several good reasons for my speculation: And they all sort of tie in to one another.

* Joe Cada has Darvin Moon out-chipped over 2-to-1

This was quite evident towards the end of Saturday/Sunday’s play, when we saw Moon make some odd calls and plays rather quickly. In my experience when a player stops deliberating and just goes with the first semblance of a hand they pick up it’s a sign that they have had enough.

* Darvin Moon is happy to have gotten this far

I think the 3 month break is bad for the non-professional players: A pro’s desire to win will likely increase, but an amateur has all of that extra time to think about how they arelucky to be in the position, and how fortunate they are to have come this far: Moon is guaranteed over $5 million; HE’S HAPPY!

* Joe Cada is exponentially more experienced as a poker player

Cada may be 21, but with Moon never having played online poker Cada has a huge edge in experience. In fact, this is likely to be Moon’s first heads-up experience in a tournament: As a pro –and online player—Cada likely has 100’s or 1,000s of heads-up experiences.

I simply feel that for all of these reasons Moon will have to catch cards to win the tournament.

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Monday night will be the culmination of three months of poker, and mostly waiting: The final two competitors for the 2009 WSOP Main Event championship are set, and after some much needed rest Darvin Moon and Joe Cada will square off for the title, and the $8.5 million in prize money.

The amateur Moon is at a severe disadvantage in chips for the first time at the final table, as well as in poker knowledge and experience, despite more than doubling Cada in age. Throughout the final table Moon displayed several chinks in his armor, with a series of questionable plays:

* Calling a pre-flop re-raise with A4
* Folding a hand on the flop getting 8-to-1 odds (an insta-call in poker)
* Calling a large all-in re-raise with KJs

These plays only highlight Moon’s inexperience, but his poker table demeanor, everyman appeal, and integrity (Moon refused sponsorship from an online site because he doesn’t play online poker) make him a fan favorite.

Cada on the other hand methodically built up his stack after being down to around 2 million chips at one point: And was able to take the commanding chip-lead by single-handedly knocking out Frenchman Antoine Saout in 2 hands: Cada’s 22 outflopped Saout’s QQ, and a few hands later Cada’s AK took down Saout’s 99.

Play will resume at 7PM EDT on Monday night: Cada has a 135,950,000 to 58,850,000 chip lead over Darvin Moon entering heads-up play.

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Perhaps the Hour+ delay to start the final table was a harbinger of things to come: After 16 hours of play the competitors are still one elimination away from concluding play for the day.

Chip-Leader Darvin Moon seems to be feeling the effects of the marathon session more than the other remaining players –Joe Cada, and Antoine Saout. Just before the break Moon called ½ his chips with KJs, against an all-in re-raise by Eric Buchman (who held A5), only a king on the turn kept Moon from becoming the short-stack. The look on his face can only be described as, “let’s get this over with, win or lose.”

I’m sure all of the players had a bad night’s sleep on Friday, and were up early on Saturday full of anticipation. So, it’s quite likely all of the players have been up for over 24 hours –A standard Las Vegas occurrence. And no one is going to be more unaccustomed to that type of lifestyle than the amateur poker player Darvin Moon. The professional poker players have most likely experienced countless 20+ hour sessions in their time at the tables, so the effects will not be as pronounced as they are with Moon.

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