Since the FED’s shut down the Big Poker Websites last week and froze their bank accounts; ESPN has dropped all poker programming according to Bloomberg.
While Poker remains very popular, ESPN prefers CASH over viewer popularity. With the bank accounts frozen, ESPN won’t be paid and programming such as World Series of Poker is off the air until new sponsors can be found.
WXII-TV still carries Poker After Dark daily at 2:05 AM. No word if they might drop the programming.
In USA Today, ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys was quoted as saying “Plans have not changed” for the WSOP. The WSOP is not affiliated with PokerStars or the other two sites that were targeted on Friday. The article indicated that ESPN still planned to televise the WSOP but it went on to discuss the fact that the number of entrants might be down dramatically as PokerStars payed the $10,000 entrance fee for a lot of players who won tournaments or money on their site.