ESPN presents a special one-hour season preview show with memorable moments from last season and a look ahead to the 41st year of the World Series of Poker, presented by Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, Tuesday, July 20, at 8 p.m. ET.
Lon McEachern and Norman Chad return as co-hosts for the record 28 hours of Main Event coverage, and Chad goes in depth with 2009 winner Joe Cada, who at 21 became the youngest world champion, cashing in more than $8.5 million.
Other features in the preview show include:
•McEachern will moderate four different roundtable discussions with the game’s best players, featuring a “Bracelet Race” analysis with 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and 10-time bracelet winner Doyle Brunson. Past champions Dan Harrington, Scotty Nguyen, Chris Ferguson and Chris Moneymaker will also weigh in on how play has changed throughout the years.
•The remarkable year of the Shulman family is reviewed, including Final table appearances by father and son, Barry in the World Series of Poker Europe and Jeff in the November Nine WSOP in Las Vegas.
•Some of poker’s most impressive up-and-comers, Tom Dwan, Scott Seiver and Isaac Haxton, give their thoughts on age in poker and live versus online play.
•Past bracelet winners Jennifer Harman, Daniel Negreanu and Erick Lindgren forecast the 2010 series.
Fans will also get a taste of the tournaments to watch beginning with the season-opening $50k Poker Players Championship on July 27, the Tournament of Champions on Aug. 3, and the Main Event Aug. 10-Nov. 9.
Some fun facts about World Series of Poker, by the numbers:
219,570,000 – Number of chips in play during the Main Event
28,000 – Number of pounds of TV equipment used to produce the WSOP
7,319 – Number of entrants in the 2010 WSOP Main Event (second-largest live tournament ever)
117 – Number of different nations represented by participants in the 2010 WSOP
41 – Number of years the Main Event of the World Series of Poker has existed
40 – Number of HD cameras used by ESPN to televise the WSOP
28 – Number of Main Event hours that will air on ESPN in 2010 (a record)
Visit http://espnmediazone.com and click on the World Series of Poker digital media kit for the latest schedules, news, photos, video and audio clips, and more.
Below is this year’s telecast schedule on ESPN:
Date Time (ET) Event Episode #
Jul 20 8 p.m. 2010 World Series of Poker Preview SPECIAL
Jul 27 8 p.m. $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship 1
Jul 27 9 p.m. $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship Final Table 2
Aug 3 8 p.m. WSOP 2010 Tournament of Champions 3
Aug 3 9 p.m. WSOP 2010 Tournament of Champions 4
Aug 10 8 p.m. Main Event 5
Aug 10 9 p.m. Main Event 6
Aug 17 8 p.m. Main Event 7
Aug 17 9 p.m. Main Event 8
Aug 24 8 p.m. Main Event 9
Aug 24 9 p.m. Main Event 10
Aug 31 9 p.m. Main Event 11
Aug 31 10 p.m. Main Event 12
Sep 7 9 p.m. Main Event 13
Sep 7 10 p.m. Main Event 14
Sep 14 9 p.m. Main Event 15
Sep 14 10 p.m. Main Event 16
Sep 21 9 p.m. Main Event 17
Sep 21 10 p.m. Main Event 18
Sep 28 9 p.m. Main Event 19
Sep 28 10 p.m. Main Event 20
Oct 5 9 p.m. Main Event 21
Oct 5 10 p.m. Main Event 22
Oct 12 9 p.m. Main Event 23
Oct 12 10 p.m. Main Event 24
Oct 19 9 p.m. Main Event 25
Oct 19 10 p.m. Main Event 26
Oct 26 9 p.m. Main Event 27
Oct 26 10 p.m. Main Event 28
Nov 2 9 p.m. Main Event 29
Nov 2 10 p.m. Main Event 30
Nov 9 9 p.m.-TBD Main Event Final Table 31
*TV Schedule Subject To Change
