Spoiler alert: This post includes results from the Final Table of the World Series of Poker Main Event that airs on ESPN tonight.

This year's World Series of Poker Main Event, which ended just this morning, was unique in its pacing and the success of waiting nearly four months to determine the winner will be largely determined by tonight's TV rating.

The tournament began with 6,844 players in early July and it was suspended after a week-and-half when the field was reduced to the magic Final Table of nine players. The plan all along was to reconvene the tournament in November, largely to build the hype for the finals. And there's another important advantage -- because Final Table play began Sunday when the nine players became just two in heads-up play and resumed again last night, tonight's telecast is expected to have more of a spontaneous feel to it although certainly not live.

It will be interesting to see what the ratings are for tonight's broadcast. During the early phase of the poker boom, which started in 2003 with Chris Moneymaker's improbable win in the WSOP Main Event, TV ratings were cresting. But over the last couple of years, ratings have drifted downward. That's not to say that poker isn't a good deal as TV programming. For one thing, its appeal in reruns is incredibly strong despite the fact that the results are obviously known. But ESPN, which broadcasts the WSOP, and Harrah's Entertainment, which owns the tournament, would love to see a spike for this year's airing of the Final Table in first run.

The telecast starts at 8 p.m. with a preview show and the Final Table play begins at 9 p.m.

There are any number of places where you could have already seen the result, so here it is:

Denmark's Peter Eastgate, 22, became the youngest WSOP Main Event champion ever in beating Russia's Ivan Demidov, 27. Eastgate won $9.1 million and Demidov took away $5.8 million. The previous youngest Main Event champion was famous poker pro Phil Hellmuth when he won the tournament at 24 in 1989.

Eastgate's winning hand was a so-called wheel straight, ace-2-3-4-5, that beat Demidov's two pair, 2s and 4s. At the time, Eastgate had a commanding chip lead. The third-place finisher was the oldest player at the final table and the last American in contention, Dennis Phillips, a 53-year truck company account manager from St. Louis. He won $4.5 million.