$1500 NLHE Event to Play Into Infinity

Quite possibly, I\’m exaggerating.

However, at 11:10pm, there are 95 players remaining. WSOP officials just announced that the tournament will stay true to the structure in that they will play down to the final nine tonight. And I use the term \”tonight\” loosely. It will likely be well into the morning hours tomorrow, generously speaking, when they hit that magic number. They will then give the final table players the mandatory 10 hours of rest, ask that they come back to the Rio for the two-hour block of ESPN interviews, and then play the final table.

It was ESPN\’s decision, and since they will film the final table, it was their decision against breaking at a decent time tonight, playing to nine tomorrow, and pushing the final table out one day. Instead, they have chosen to drain the players of all earthly stamina and patience in the hope against all hope that play will suddenly speed up and merge with their intended schedule. In the meantime, the media members required to cover the tournament are being forced into a special kind of hell.

Hopefully, play won\’t last beyond 5am or 6am, but I\’ll take the over on that one.