For the 19th consecutive year, ESPN exclusively broadcast the 2021 World Series of Poker Main Event. The broadcast yesterday featured four hours of hand-to-hand action of the International and Domestic Final Tables, culminating in the first-ever Heads Up World Championship. Hosting the program was legendary announcer Lon McEachern, and for the first time as co-host, poker pro Jamie Kerstetter.
The 51st year of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) $10,000 No-Limit Hold-Em World Championship, also known as the Main Event, was unlike any of the previous 50 events, taking on a new hybrid format due to travel restrictions and out of an abundance of caution for player safety.
Play began online, with one entry on WSOP.com or GGPoker.com before shifting to a live setting for final table play on two continents. The winners of the two final tables then battled in the first-ever heads-up duel for the World Championship at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. At stake was $1 million in additional prize money courtesy of Caesars Entertainment, Inc. and GGPoker, and the most valuable trophy in the world of poker, the diamond- and gold-encrusted WSOP Main Event bracelet.
“We could not be more excited to deliver poker fans new primetime content on ESPN,” said Ty Stewart, executive director of the World Series of Poker. “With compelling storylines and unpredictable action, these episodes remind us all why there was a poker boom in the first place.”
