The November Nine era at the World Series of Poker is over.
The final table for the 2017 Main Event will take place on July 20-22, Caesars announced today.
Since 2008 the WSOP has utilized a 3+ month hiatus between reaching the final table and finally playing it out.
The November Nine was incorporated to give ESPN a chance to catch up with episodes and give final-table contestants a chance to promote the event on talk shows and print.
Mainstream media appearances never really materialized and critics of the format felt it sapped all momentum from the tournament.
New Streaming Deal with Poker Central
The WSOP also announced a new deal with ESPN that will run four more years.
2012 November Nine winner Greg Merson
As part of the deal ESPN will carry live same day coverage of the Main Event for the first-time ever starting from Day 1a.
With the new deal ESPN will broadcast an estimated 40 hours of live Main Event coverage (on a 30-minute delay).
That’s in addition to 130 hours of originally packaged shows.
ESPN won’t be the only place to find the WSOP, however.
Poker Central was announced as a new streaming partner for the WSOP and will have the opportunity to stream everything that ESPN isn’t broadcasting, which includes bonus coverage of the Main Event.
"Having every day live coverage of the WSOP Main Event is truly a huge commitment on behalf of ESPN and Poker Central, and we look forward to delivering to our faithful audience wall-to-wall action from the outset for the very first time,” said WSOP executive director Ty Stewart.
You can check out the complete 2017 WSOP schedule here.
November Nine Shuttered After Nine Years
You can’t say the WSOP didn’t give the November Nine format a chance to succeed as the concept lasted nearly a decade from 2008 to 2016.
Phil Ivey made an appearance in the November Nine.
For nine years the November Nine took place in November (with the exceptional of 2012, when it was shifted to October to dodge the US election).
The November Nine wasn’t without highlights, however.
Maryland Logger Darvin Moon battling young online grinder Joe Cada in 2009 made for a compelling final table. Not to mention the inclusion of poker pro Phil Ivey.
Mark Newhouse making back-to-back final tables in 2013-14 and finishing ninth in both final tables also captured the attention of poker players around the world.
Michael Mizrachi, Ben Lamb, J.C. Tran, David Benefield, Cliff Josephy andGriffin Benger were among the notable pros to appear in the November Nine.
Here’s a look at every winner that came out of the November Nine era:
2008 — Peter Eastgate
2009 — Joe Cada
2010 — Jonathan Duhamel
2011 — Pius Heinz
2012 — Greg Merson
2013 — Ryan Riess
2014 — Martin Jacobson
2015 — Joe McKeehen
2016 — Qui Nguyen
Here's a complete look at ESPN's schedule for live coverage of the Main Event:
