The 2009 World Series of Poker Setting New Records

We are supposed to be smack back in the middle of a global economic crisis. In the UK we have officially been in a recession for a few months now. We keep being told how people are scared to spend and the average spend per household has fallen through the floor.

Well it seems that someone forgot to tell the poker players as an even bigger legion of players have made the trek to Las Vegas for the annual World Series of Poker. This year, there were a total of 115 different countries represented at the series but what was remarkable was that last years record of 58,720 total participants was actually surpassed this year in what is a global economic slump.

No fewer than 60,875 players participated in a total of 57 tournaments which is 2,155 up on last year, an increase of nearly 4%. Other records were broken too and this years figure of $174 million dollars in total prize money is another landmark total. Also the total prize money since the WSOP first began in 1970 has now passed the billion dollar mark.

This years main event final table will feature nine players, all of which are guaranteed to walk away with at least a million dollars and the winner will walk away with more than eight million dollars. Another amazing statistic was that a total of 39 out of the 57 events had prize money of a million dollars or more, this was yet another record.

The World Series of Poker president and commissioner Jeffrey Pollack remarked how “our results have exceeded every expectation”. The records kept on tumbling with 10 out of the 57 events being sell outs and the $1000 no-limit texas hold’em event became the largest non main event tournament in history with a staggering 6012 players. Even the non hold’em events like Omaha and 2-7 lowball were attracting increased crowds and event #55 which was the limit 2-7 lowball triple draw set a new record as the largest tournament in history of its kind.

Event #5, the $1500 Pot Limit Omaha tournament became the biggest PLO tournament in history with a staggering 809 entries, a huge figure for a non hold’em event. On a personal front we even had a triple bracelet winner in Jeff Lisandro who became only the 5th player in WSOP History to achieve that goal.

So 2009 will go down as a great year for the WSOP and it hasn’t even finished yet. The main event is in full swing as we speak and by next week we will know who the “November Nine” will be and the contenders for this years title of “World Poker Champion”. So what has made 2009 so popular and why are the numbers up on last year in what is a global economic crisis?

Well I think the main reason is that poker is just so popular with the masses. Plus when you keep in mind that there are millions of young single men with no attachments as yet who can make the trip to LV without having to worry about family ties then this is another factor.

Plus, the poker sites themselves have been responsible for getting large numbers of players to the Series. Countless numbers of satellites and qualifying events and WSOP packages have been contested by hundreds of millions of amateur poker players for months on end.

Most of the players at the series have got there by only investing a tiny sum of money. Also we have to remember that Chris Moneymaker turned $40 into $2.5 million dollars when he won the main event in 2003. So the WSOP is going strong in 2009 and who would care to back against more records being broken in 2010…..not me.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson

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