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Online gaming industry still counting the costs of Black Friday as Onyx Cup get cancelled.

The events that happened on Friday 14th April have become known across the online gambling industry as Black Friday, and since then the question on everyone’s lips has not been ‘Will it affect the live poker tournament circuit’ but ‘how badly’?

All eyes have been on the attendance at live poker tournaments, with industry insiders predicting a massive drop in numbers due to online sites puling out of the United States. Although it is too early to tell have much of a long term impact this will have on attendance figures, as expected, numbers have dipped against previous years.

Despite the rumours and speculation, the organizers of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) seem to be more determined than ever to make the 42nd annual event nothing less than a success. The schedule will continue as planned, with 58 gold bracelet events running from 31st May to 19th July. According to Seth Palansky, Communications Director for the WSOP, the event will feature “non-stop satellites and cash games” – exactly what poker fans from across the world have come to expect.

The biggest poker event on the calendar will take place at the Rio Hotel and Casino, and the WSOP has announced that television coverage will be increased for the final days of the tournament.

Matthew Volk, ESPN manager of programming and acquisitions, said “For the first time viewers at home will have the best seats in the house for the World Series of Poker, poker’s premier event.”

For six consecutive days ESPN will show more footage than ever before, including more than 34 additional hours of coverage in high definition on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3.com. “Fans will see hole cards post-flop and get an inside look at all of the strategy, angst and competition of the world’s best players vying for a seat at the most prestigious final table in the sport” concluded Volk.

Things are less positive for the Onyx Cup, which has been cancelled. The series, which was going to be sponsored by Full Tilt Poker was going to feature six high-roller tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $100,000 to $300,000. The first tournament was set to take place in Las Vegas May 11-12, and events were scheduled to follow in Europe and Asia.

All eyes will now turn to the EPT Grand Final in Madrid, which attracted a field of 848 players in 2010. It now remains to be seen how this year’s event will be affected.