Final Table #143: Dennis' Appendix + WSOP's Ty Stewart

Today on The Final Table poker radio show, we started with Dennis telling the amazing story of how he won a WSOP Circuit Event at Horseshoe Hammond last week despite suffering from severe stomach pains, and how he left the tournament several times to go lie down for awhile before returning to chip up again. In the end, he had all the chips, the $55,000 payday, and his first WSOPC ring. Unfortunately, a few hours later, that pain in his gut turned into a burst appendix, and he had to have an emergency appendectomy. The good news is he's alive to tell the story, and recovering enough to go home and rest up.

In our guest segment, we talked with WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart about the changes to the November Nine weekend, when all the hands will be shown on TV (ESPN2 on Sunday 11/6/11 and ESPN on Tuesday 11/8/11). Ty explained how the nearly-live coverage will work, when viewers will be able to see hole cards, restrictions on players using cell phones at the table, and why the WSOP and ESPN decided to present the Main Event finale this way rather than in the edited 2-hour highlights package they've used for the last 3 years. Ty also revealed how the WSOP hopes to expand to Asia and Australia, some changes they're working on for next summer's WSOP in Las Vegas, how he views the future of poker on TV, and whether they'll use the same TV format for next year's Main Event.

Finally, Paul recapped the congressional committee hearing on online poker that took place earlier today, and explained why Americans shouldn't plan on playing on licensed and regulated sites until 2014 at the earliest.

Listen, then click here to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes! We do The Final Table show every Tuesday 3pm to 4pm CT on 590 KFNS radio from the poker room of Harrah's St. Louis.