BY TOM SOMACH

Can’t wait until next month to watch a replay of the 2007 World Series of Poker main event on free TV?

You can watch it live, on pay-per-view.

For the second straight year, ESPN will be offering live pay-per-view coverage of final table play at the WSOP main event in Las Vegas.

Coverage is set to begin at 3 p.m. Eastern Time, on Tuesday, July 17.

The cost for viewing the event is $19.95.

If you can wait til next month, or just don’t want to pay, free coverage on ESPN of the WSOP main event is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, Aug. 21.

Two hours of 2007 WSOP main event coverage will air each Tuesday night on ESPN for eight consecutive weeks, concluding on October 9.

That total of 16 hours of free televised main event coverage is 33% more than last year, when ESPN televised a dozen hours.

According to ESPN, viewers watching the live pay-per-view telecast will be able to e-mail or text message poker questions to the telecast commentators, who will then answer them during the telecast.

“This year’s live pay-per-view coverage of the final table will bring fans inside the World Series of Poker,=E2=80=9D said ESPN senior producer Jamie Horowitz.

“We are focused on delivering a unique viewer experience with access to players, commentators and information,” he said.

“With real-time text-message and e-mail communication available between their homes and the tournament in Las Vegas, fans will be part of poker’s most exciting night in a way they’ve never been before,” Horowitz said.

For more information about the pay-per-view event on television, contact your local cable television operator.

For those so inclined, the pay-per-view event will also be available on the Internet, at www.espn.com.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)