How long did those last 2 guys play at the WSOP?

How long did those last 2 guys play at the WSOP? My DVR stopped, but it must have gone a long time? Neither guy wanted to go "all in."

They played until 12:30 am Pac time, about 6 1/2 hours total. I'm sure no one was rooting for an all-in more then the ESPN producers.

That's crazy. Once you're playing heads up, you'd think one of them would go all in with a strong hand. No way it goes that long with Ben Lamb in the final 2. They'll change the format again (to prevent this) IMO.

All they have to do is make a rule that says the level goes up after 30 minutes instead of 120 once the final two is reached. I'm surprised it took 119 heads-up hands, though. There's not much you can do if this happens — it's a risk they take by broadcasting live with a delay. The past few years they've shown more and more near-live poker. It must be because people are watching it more than they used to. So maybe they were happy with the 119 hands. That said, they're always tweaking stuff, so who knows.

How many hands did it go (heads up, not with all three) before either of them said "all in?" I make a point of watching the final table every year, (without knowing the result), but even I wouldn't stay up for that. For a comparison, I like boxing, but 50 rounds of Ali/Frazier "feeling one another out" is also too much.

"All they have to do is make a rule that says the level goes up after 30 minutes instead of 120 once the final two is reached. I'm surprised it took 119 heads-up hands, though. There's not much you can do if this happens — it's a risk they take by broadcasting live with a delay." The Main Event has the greatest structure for the players of any tournament anywhere. This was a classic heads-up battle, and real poker players loved seeing every hand unfold. To turn it into an all-in fest once it got to heads-up so casual viewers wouldn't get bored would be a travesty. What they should do, and I think they likely wil do, is to broadcast like they did this year on the interent, a lesser ESPN channel, or even go to pay-per-view, and then broadcast the cut-down version on ESPN as soon as they can get it edited.

For someone like you, this may have been a classic battle, but most of us are watching for the entertainment aspect. I DO understand what you're saying. It simply went too long. It'll be interesting to see what they do next year. With no control over length, I can't imagine it will be the same.

I agree with Blair about it being of the highest quality. But because ESPN is doing this for ratings, I agree with you that they're going to change something. And that's too bad.