Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Las Vegas Sun

Dealers and production crews prepare for the 7th day of competition at the ESPN feature table July 14 at the World Series of Poker Main Event at the Rio. Crews pull 15 hours, operating as many as 40 cameras to pull off the broadcast.

By Steve Silver

Published Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009 | 11:23 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009 | 11:50 a.m.

ESPN and Harrah's Interactive Entertainment, Inc. announced today that they have reached a seven-year agreement that will keep the World Series of Poker on ESPN through April 2018.

As part of the new deal, ESPN will telecast a minimum of 32 hours of WSOP event coverage annually, including select other events and the November final table.

"The WSOP is proud to call ESPN home for another nine years," said Jeffrey Pollack, President of Harrah's Interactive Entertainment and the World Series of Poker in a press release. "This long-term agreement ensures that our content will continue to reach sports fans around the world through every medium that matters."

ESPN's poker coverage attracts nearly 82 million viewers annually. The network's coverage of the No Limit Hold 'em Main Event begins tonight at 5 p.m.

ESPN has broadcast the WSOP since 2003 and was operating under an agreement set to expire in 2010.

"We are very excited to continue our relationship with Harrah’s to deliver the largest, richest, and most prestigious gaming event in the world to fans across a variety of our platforms,” said Doug White, ESPN's senior director of programming and acquisitions. “Poker continues to be a solid ratings performer for us and allows us to continue offering diverse programming to our viewers.“