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ESPN has decided to make a very bold decision that may eventually change the face of televised poker tournaments from here on out. As they did with their earlier coverage of the 2011 WSOP Main Event, ESPN has decided to broadcast the final table of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event virtually live, utilizing only a 15-minute delay.

The coverage has been moved from the 5^th and 7^th and November (Saturday and Monday) to the 6^th and 8^th (Sunday and Tuesday) to accommodate ESPN’s other programming –ESPN being the host of Monday Night Football. ESPN will be covering the entire final table, splitting airtime time between ESPN and ESPN 2, while poker fans who may not be near their TV’s can also watch a live feed of the proceedings online at ESPN 3.

Besides decreasing the delay from 30 minutes to 15 minutes, ESPN has also made the decision to show the hole cards of every player, in every hand. In the earlier “live” coverage this past summer, ESPN only showed the hole cards of the players who were still involved in the hand after the flop.

In our new Internet age, where information is at every person’s fingertips as soon as it happens, anywhere in the world, the need for near-live coverage of poker tournaments is necessary to keep the results from being known to the public at large. Should ESPN see an increase in ratings, the “live” coverage may very well be the wave of the future in poker tournament coverage.