As you may already know, ESPN was in charge of the full TV coverage for the 2009 World Series of Poker. ESPN has confirmed that the episodes broadcasting the action at the Rio this year will begin airing on July 28th.

The first episode debuts next week and the series continues each Tuesday until the final table battle starts in November.

This time ESPN producers decided to expand the WSOP coverage. "Fans ask to see more of the later stages (of the main event), especially now that we have the delayed final table. There's a strong interest on how these players survived," said producer Jamie Horowitz.

"It's the young guys who are really driving poker right now, online and in these deep-stack tournaments. Phil Ivey is one of the old-school guys and this just proves what a tremendous player he is, how he can adapt." he added.

WSOP broadcasting schedule:

July 28th $40k NL Hold'em
August 4th WSOP Champions Invitational
August 11th Ante Up for Africa (charity event)
August 18th to November 10th The Main Event