2009 WSOP Main Event: Countdown to Day 1
by Bodog Poker | Jun 29 2009
With 48 of the 56
WSOP events complete, we're getting ever closer to 2009 Main Event. The 2009 WSOP has been a big success for Harrah's, with almost every event having bigger fields than the '08 version did. Only the $50K H.O.R.S.E event showed a decline, dropping from 148 players in '08 to 95 this year. But
Texas Holdem continues to be the game of choice, and holdem event fields at all levels have attracted more players than ever before. That means that the Main Event easily has the potential to be bigger than it was last year.
The Rio has been bustling since late May, but the real show hasn't even started yet. Once the charity event
Ante Up For Africa wraps up on July 2, the Rio will be cranking up the hype for the biggest annual
poker tournament in the world, and it looks like it could be the best one yet. Harrah's is ready to accommodate 9000 Main Event players, and experts expect this year's field to exceed the 6,844 entrants from last year. It's also probable that the '09 champion will take home a winner's check that will be in excess of $10 million.
Action gets under way with the initial 3,000 players playing on July 3, followed by three more days of Day 1 play. The Media event goes off on July 9, and we can count on poker's elite to make appearances for poker fans who have jammed the Rio in anticipation of the big show.
Action will continue until the new November Nine is decided on July 15. This year all nine are expected to become millionaires before they even sit down at the final table in November. Could this year be the first year since 2002 that a professional player is able to make their way through the massive field and take down poker's greatest prize, or will the run of amateurs continue for another year? Either way it's sure to be a great show, and someone will become a household name overnight after they become the Main Event champion.
The players to watch out for in the Main Event are Phil Ivey and Jeffery Lisandro. Ivey is one of the best overall poker players in the world, and he's already won two WSOP events this year. Lisandro has won three WSOP bracelets this year, and seems to be on the best run anyone has seen in a long time. Both have the talent to take down the Main Event, and all eyes will be on these two players once the Main Event commences.
One thing is for sure,
poker continues to grow at the WSOP and the economy has not slowed down the expansion of the game. Players from all over the world are coming to Las Vegas more than ever, and if you walk the halls of the Rio the atmosphere is more multi-cultural than ever. Right now the city of Vegas is alive with poker action and Michael Jackson music, and the thousands who have come to play hope that it will be their time to become a poker legend. The event has truly become a world championship, and the entire world awaits the new king of poker being crowned.
