Despite turning away more than 500 players on Monday, the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event will shell out $8.5 million to its victor, who will be crowned in November. The total number of entrants nearly topped 6,500.
The top 648 places will pay out, with the 63 best on the leaderboard earning at least six-figures for their efforts. The tournament is the third largest of all-time, trailing only the 6,844 who turned out for last year’s feature event and the 8,773 who posted the $10,000 buy-in three years ago. The final starting day attracted a whopping 2,809 entrants, pushing the total to 6,494. Day 1A of the 2009 WSOP Main Event attracted 1,116 players, while Day 1B, which occurred on the Fourth of July holiday in the United States, generated a cozy field of just 873. A total of 1,696 poker players showed up for Day 1C on Sunday, leading to Monday’s sellout.
The Main Event’s runner-up will see their bank account boosted by $5,182,601. Third place will pocket $3,479,485, while fourth place takes home $2,502,787. The fifth place finisher in the 2009 WSOP Main Event will receive a check for $1,953,395, edging out the sixth place player’s payday of $1,587,133. Seventh place will grab $1,404,002, while eighth place will earn $1,300,228. The final member of the November Nine will receive $1,263,602. The event’s total prize pool swelled to just over $61 million. However, that figure does not include interest on the money paid out to November Nine members, who will reconvene at the Rio that month to play down to a winner after a 100 day respite.
A bevy of brand name poker pros were shut out of Day 1D after the field reached its capacity, according to the Associated Press. Among those left out in the cold were Durrrr Challenge participant Patrik Antonius, who, along with Tom Dwan, has been blanked at the 2009 WSOP. Antonius made the final table and finished seventh in last year’s $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em, earning $124,000. In 2007, Antonius finished third in the World Championship of Pot Limit Omaha for $311,000. Antonius’ back has been ailing him for much of this year’s tournament series. Now, the Full Tilt Poker pro will likely resume his battle against Dwan in the Million Dollar Challenge, which is nearing its halfway point. Dwan played on Day 1D and finished with a stack of 24,000.
Also on the outside looking in was 2006 Poker Hall of Fame inductee T.J. Cloutier, who owns six WSOP bracelets. Cloutier was the runner-up to Bill Smith in the 1985 WSOP Main Event and won his first bracelet the following year in a $1,000 buy-in Limit Omaha tournament for $72,000. Other bracelets have come in Omaha High-Low, Pot Limit Hold’em, Seven Card Razz, and No Limit Hold’em. Ted Forrest joined him on the rails, unable to register for the sold out Main Event. Forrest has five WSOP bracelets, three of which he won during the 1993 tournament series (Limit Seven Card Stud, Limit Razz, and Limit Omaha High-Low).
WSOP officials employed 308 tables to accommodate players on Day 1D, the most for any tournament so far. The end-of-day report focused on turning away over 500 poker hopefuls: “This issue will most certainly be discussed following this year’s tournament as the WSOP attempts to accommodate as many players as possible, while encouraging and emphasizing the importance of early registration – particularly into widely-popular events such as the Main Event championship which are in serious danger of reaching full capacity.” The Miranda Room, Brazilia Room, Rio poker room, and Buzio’s Seafood Restaurant were all used to accommodate players.
The tournament now begins the first of two Day 2s. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the 2009 WSOP Main Event.
