Taped From Las Vegas, The WSOP Heads To ESPN2 This Weekend

Despite the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, the World Series of Poker managed to hold a live, in-person Main Event in 2020, which you may have missed.

The WSOP didn’t present the multi-week spectacle of previous years, yet they still held their annual crowning of a Main Event champion at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, a tradition they have maintained since the mid-2000s.

ESPN was also present when the WSOP revealed this week’s broadcast schedule for the 2020 WSOP Main Event. ESPN2 will air four hours of the 2020 WSOP Main Event televised coverage this Sunday, Feb. 28, starting at 8 p.m. ET.

The broadcast on Sunday will feature action from both the “international” and “domestic” final tables, concluding with the heads-up finale. Commentary will be provided by Lon McEachern and Jamie Kerstetter.

WSOP created ‘hybrid’ Main Event following pandemic postponement

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) kicked off 2020 with the intention of hosting the biggest tournament series in its 51-year history. Early in the year, the WSOP disclosed a schedule comprising 101 bracelet events. Fourteen of these events were planned to be held online at WSOP.com, while the remaining 87 were set to be conducted in person at the Rio from May to July.

However, the pandemic resulted in the shutdown of all casinos, not only in Nevada but also across the country, starting from March. By mid-April, the WSOP announced the postponement of the series.

In early June, the WSOP declared that an alternative online-only series would occur. This series incorporated 31 events that were held in July on WSOP.com for players on the WSOP Nevada and WSOP New Jersey sites. A subsequent phase of 54 events happened on the worldwide online poker site GGPoker, from mid-July through September.

The series concluded with a No-Limit Hold’em Main Event with a $5,000 prize. Stoyan Madanzhiev, a player from Bulgaria, emerged victorious in the Main Event, besting a field of 5,802 entries. For his win, Madanzhiev not only claimed a Main Event bracelet but also pocketed over $3.9 million.

Despite appearances and the understanding of most observers, a mid-November announcement from the WSOP clarified that Madanzhiev was not the official “World Champion” of poker for 2020.

A new “hybrid online and live version” of the $10,000 WSOP Main Event is set to begin on GGPoker and WSOP.com in December, instead of the traditional format. In this new model, online tournaments will narrow down to nine-player final tables, who will then meet in person to compete until a single winner is determined.

The champions of the “international” and “domestic” events would subsequently convene in Las Vegas to engage in a one-on-one contest to decide the 2020 WSOP Main Event World Champion.

ESPN to show Las Vegas, Rozvadov final tables, heads-up finale (SPOILERS)

If you do not know the results of the 2020 WSOP Main Event and want to watch Sunday’s broadcast without spoilers, stop reading now.

A total of 674 players participated in the freezeout tournament on GGPoker, with the final nine hailing from nine different countries. Peiyuan Sun from China, however, decided not to attend the live final table at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic, and accepted the ninth-place prize money. The final table was eventually won by Damian Salas from Argentina who took home the first prize of slightly more than $1.55 million.

On WSOP.com, across the WSOP NV and WSOP NJ sites, 705 players participated. The final table was made up of nine Americans, though one did not partake in the live final table. Three-time bracelet winner Upeshka De Silva had to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19. Similar to Sun, De Silva was awarded ninth-place money.

Louisiana’s Joseph Hebert emerged victorious at the live final table held at the Rio. Hebert’s first prize was eerily similar to Salas’s winnings, hovering just over $1.55 million. Subsequently, the two competitors faced off in a heads-up match to decide the World Champion. To heighten the suspense, the WSOP and GGPoker introduced an additional $1 million prize for the winner of the heads-up game.

The heads-up contest was originally set for Dec. 30, 2020. However, it had to be postponed until Jan. 3, 2021, due to Salas’ travel complications. The face-off was a drawn-out affair, with almost six hours passing before Salas clinched the victory.

Salas had nearly won a Main Event title previously. In 2017, he finished seventh among 7,221 players, earning $1.425 million.

ESPN to give poker fans something familiar following unusual year

Without a doubt, ESPN’s edited broadcast on Sunday will feature significant moments from both final tables and the heads-up match. Intriguingly, since the mid-2000s, this might be the first time that the majority of viewers are unaware of the outcome ahead of time, due to the minimal coverage of the Main Event in December and early January.

McEachern is back for his 20th consecutive year covering the WSOP Main Event. Kerstetter, who was part of the coverage team in 2019, is returning this year as a co-host.

Meanwhile, Norman Chad, McEachern’s longtime partner who has been a part of every WSOP Main Event broadcast since 2003, will be absent from the show this time. This is due to pandemic-related changes, as McEachern shared on Twitter that Chad is still battling some long-term effects of COVID-19.

Anticipate the show recognizing the extraordinary circumstances of the 2020 Main Event. However, the coverage will probably attempt to offer something familiar to poker enthusiasts after such an unusual year.