WSOP Stories: TV at the WSOP: Temporal Realities

There are a number of plasma TVs set up around the Amazon Room. Many times when I thought a player was looking up for guidance in a hand, they were merely watching Tiger Woods approach a green or catching a baseball score. Yesterday, I saw two members of the ESPN film crew look toward the screen and comment, "I think that was an especially nice shot." I glanced up to see who was hitting off a tee, only to realize that ESPN was admiring their own handiwork.

Last night was ESPN's first airing of the 2007 WSOP. Watching glimpses of it in the Amazon Room, and then catching it later in the evening on TiVo, I felt a strange sense of temporal disturbance. Even though it was weeks ago, in my world, Event #1 still feels like yesterday. Watching the tournament as a now-historical event, I felt my personal 2007 WSOP timeline snap.

Many of the Main Event Day 2A players watched the show while they played and I wondered if they weren't having a little temporal disturbance of their own. As the ESPN film crews darted around the Day 2A tables like pollinating bees, players had to realize this was potential footage for the Main Event coverage. As they watched Event #1's final table play down to the bracelet, how many thought of the one bracelet yet to come? While I watched and thought about the recent past, they watched and thought about their very near and potential future.

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