ESPN Airs WSOP Final Table

The November Nine finally get their TV face time
(Image courtesy of IMPDI)

Last night on ESPN, the long-awaited November Nine got their time in the sun, as the TV network aired two and a half hours of highlights from the final table. For those who were actually following the final table as it happened, via websites, blogs or in the flesh, the outcome wasn’t particularly surprising of course. Joe Cada still won, Darvin Moon still played with his now-trademark mix of luck, randomness and occasionally brilliant reads, and Phil Ivey still didn’t do anything.

But since viewers of the broadcast could now see the player’s hole cards, there were still plenty of fascinating moments along the way. And considering how low Cada’s chip stack got, down to five big blinds at one point, it was fun to watch how he clawed his way back to eventually take the bracelet and the huge pile of money.

One of the hands that has people talking was a battle between Steven Begleiter and eventual runner-up Darvin Moon. The logger from Delaware raised to $1.3 million with K-Q and Begleiter raised to $3.9 million with his As-Qs. The flop favored Begleiter in a big way, 3-4-2 with two spades. Begleiter had a 93% advantage at this point, with his overcard, and a handful of straight and flush draws. Begleiter bet $5.3 million, which Moon quickly raised to $15 million. At this point Begleiter went all-in with his final $6 million in chips. Despite the relatively small bet and the huge pile of chips in the middle, Moon folded his K-Q. And in a moment that will have Moon hiding the TV remote from his wife for the next few weeks, he told her he had a pair of Queens, but that he put Begleiter on AKs.

There were plenty of other dramatic moments along the way, but when all was said and done, the winner was Joe Cada, which we all already knew anyway. It remains to be seen if ESPN is a winner too. Considering Phil Ivey’s presence at the final table, along with the media-hyped stories based on Begleiter and Moon’s backgrounds, it would be a safe bet that more people watched last night’s final table than 2008′s. And we should find out soon enough exactly what the ratings were for last night’s broadcast.