Finally!

Four months after making the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table--and just days before play resumes--poker superstar Phil "Poison" Ivey has finally decided to help publicize the event.

Ivey made the final table in July and then play was tabled for four months, ostensibly so the event could be publicized.  The action resumes on Saturday, November 9, 2009.

On Tuesday, November 3, 2009, at 7 p.m. Eastern Time in the USA, Ivey will be interviewed on the television program "E:60" on the American cable sports network ESPN.

According to advance info about the show, mulit-millionaire Ivey, 33, was followed around for a few days by an ESPN camera crew as he jetted around in his private jet to casinos and personal appearances around the world.

Among other things, we will see Ivey play high-stakes ($50,000 a roll) craps in casinos in Montreal and Connecticut, do an autograph signing in Austria and make a side trip to Amsterdam.

In conjunction with the TV appearance, an interview with Ivey also appears in the latest issue, out now, of "ESPN the Magazine" (Ivey's on the cover).

In the interview, Ivey not only talks about poker but also his other gambling loves--craps and sports betting.

He also explains how, when not jet-setting around the globe, he spends most of his time in his office at his Las Vegas home, sitting in front of a bank of large-screen TV monitors playing half a dozen games of online poker simultaneously.

Coincidentally--or maybe not--the ESPN interviews come just days before ESPN is to televise the final table action.

Final table play will not be televised live--instead, once the action concludes, ESPN the next day will begin televising extended highlights.

When Ivey made the final table four months ago, WSOP officials were thrilled, because they thought he would bring massive publicity to the event.

Instead, there was nary a word--discouraging or otherwise--from Ivey, as he did no big interviews to promote the event which could earn him $8.5 million if he wins it.

Now, finally, with just days until it begins, Ivey will use his tremendous poker celebrity to sell the event.

"I've convinced Phil to pull back the curtain just a little," Ivey's manager says in the magazine interview, explaining why after months of being a media no-show, "Poison" is at last doing some publicity.

For all poker has done for Ivey, it's about time Ivey does something for poker in return.

By Tom Somach

Gambling911.com

tomsomach@yahoo.com