Official Report
Event #57
World Championship
World Series of Poker Main Event
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In:  $10,000
Number of Entries:  6,494
Total Players Remaining:  607 (+ 2,922 for Day 2-B) = 3,530
Total Net Prize Pool:  $61,043,600
Number of Places Paid:  648
First Place Prize:  $8,546,435
July 3–November 10, 2009

Tournament Highlights:

Headlines (Day 2-A)

1.  World Series of Poker Continues With Start of Day Two

2.  Andrew Gaw (Phillippines) is the Day 2-A Chip Leader — Eric Cloutier (Mont Laurier, Quebec) is a Close Second
3.  Day 2-B Begins Tomorrow, to be followed by One-Day Recess

The Main Event Continues

– The 2009 WSOP Main Event continued with the first of two flights of the second round, which are jointly designated as “Day Two.”  Day One was played over the initial four days of the tournament, which began on July 3rd.  Day 2-A and 2-B (Day Two) are played July 7-8.

– Day 2-A began with 1,478 players.  The day ended with only 607 survivors.

– This is the 41st day of the WSOP.  Play continues for eight more days, plus the finale to be played in November.

– Any player dealt four jacks in this year’s Main Event receives a special prize from Jack Link’s Beef Jerky valued at $100.  So far, 22 packages have been given away (through four days), which amounts to about once per two-hour level.

– Play on Day 2-A began on July 7, 2009 at 12:05 pm.

Play on Day 2-A

– Former world champions who continued play on Day 2-A included – “Amarillo Slim” Preston (1972), Johnny Chan (1987/1988), Jim Bechtel (1993), Chris Ferguson (2000), Carlos Mortensen (2001), and Greg Raymer (2004).  Chan was eliminated early in the day.  Preston and Johnston lasted until much later, but finally busted out during Level 9.  Bechtel, Ferguson, Raymer were the only survivors who will come back and play in Day 3.  Both are above average in chips.  Jim Bechtel is slightly below average.
Mortensen will need help as he is low in chips.

– Former WSOP gold bracelet winners who survived and will play on Day 3 included (in decending order by chip count) — Greg Mueller, Phi Nguyen, Mike Sexton, Thor Hansen, Vitaly Lunkin, Burt Boutin, Tom Schneider, San Farha, Farzad Rouhani, Erik Seidel, Bob Sleazak, Keven Stammen, Bill Edler, Ted Lawson, and Roland de Wolfe.

– Notable celebrities who continued play on Day 2-A included – Jennifer Tilly (actor), Shane Warne (world-famous cricket player), Brad Garrett (actor and comedian),  Rene Angelil (music manager and husband of Celine Dion), and Jason Alexander (actor and comedian).  Warne and Alexander survived and will play on Day 3.

– Poker commentator, ambassador, and former gold bracelet winner Mike Sexton ended the day in good position, with nearly twice the average stack size.

– Nikolay Ezdakov, who set the record last year for most cashes in a single year at the WSOP (with 10) was eliminated on this day.

– Wendeen Eolis, who became the first woman ever to cash in the WSOP Main Event in 1986 was eliminated in this day.

– Dewey Tomko, who was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame last year, was eliminated late in the day.

– This was not a good day for writers and journalists.  Two of the biggest names in poker publishing, Mike Caro and Barry Shulman, were both eliminated on this day.

– Jack Ury, from Terre Haute, IN was eliminated on this day.  It was Ury’s
third straight year to play in the Main Event.  At age 96, Ury holds the record as the oldest player ever to compete in a WSOP event.

– Greg “Fossilman” Raymer and Jason Alexander were placed at ESPN’s feature table.  Given the two popular celebrities were seated side-by-side, spectator interest was high throughout the day and night.  The feature table was even more entertaining due to Raymer and Alexander discussing a variety of topics, and even getting involved in some good-natured banter.

– The the three members of the Brunson Family who participated in the Main Event, Pam Brunson outlasted both Doyle and Todd.

– Two-time gold bracelet winner Tom Schneider, who won the 2007 WSOP “Player of the Year” race, survived and will return for Day Three.

– Players competed for five complete levels.  Play ended after Level 9.  When play resumes at Level 10, blinds will be 600-1,200 with a 200 ante.  The average stack size is 97,650.

– Day 2-A started with a field of 1,989 players and ended with 607 survivors.  This means only 30 percent of starters survived past the second day.

– Players who survived Day 2-A will return to continue their quest for the 2009 world poker championship gold bracelet and $8.5 million in prize money on July 10th, starting at noon.  They will merge into one combined field with the survivors of Day 2-B (which is to be played on July 8th).  Day 3 will be the first time this year all players play in the same day.

– Play on Day Two ended at 12:40 am.

Day 2-A Chip Leaders –

– The overall chip leaeder is Andrew Gaw, from The Philippines.  Unfortunately, little is known about Gaw at this stage.  But media scrutiny and pubic attention thould be fierce upon Gaw when he returns as the biggest stack, barring players surpassing him in the count from Day 2-B (which appears likley).

– Currently in second place (from Day 2-A) is Eric Cloutier, from Mont Laurier, Quebec (Canada).  He also has a residence in Lafayette, LA.  Cloutier is a former professional ice hockey player.  He played a number of seasons for the Louisiana Ice Gators, and was called up for a brief time to the NHL by the Boston Bruins.  Cloutier owns a few bars and restaurants in southeastern Louisiana.  He has been playing poker regularly on the tournament circuit the last five years.

– In a bizarre coincidence, Eric Cloutier’s end of Day One chip count was initially misreported and he was wrongly identified as the chip leader.  The confusion resulted from an extra zero being added to Cloutier’s chip count.  The error was discovered and Cloutier’s standing fell from 150,000 in chips to only 15,000 in chips.  During the past three days, Cloutier has fended off congratulations from well-wishers.  He explained that he was actually very low in chips when play began on Day Two.  Incredibly, Cloutier managed not only to survive, but to bypass more than 1,300 players ahead of him in the chip count.  He ends up as second-ranked chip leader, proving that the “Cloutier Chip Leader” headline may not have been wrong, but wasn merely premature.

– The highest-ranked former WSOP gold bracelet winner from Day 2-A is Greg “FBT” Mueller, from Vancouver, BC (Canada).  Mueller is now in 12th-place.

Combined Notes –

– Former world champions still alive in the Main Event include:

Bobby Baldwin
Phil Hellmuth
Jim Bechtel
Dan Harrington
Scotty Nguyen
Chris “Jesus” Ferguson
Carlos Mortensen
Robert Varkonyi
Greg “Fossilman” Raymer
Joe Hachem

– Notable non-pro celebrities still alive in the Main Event include:

Jason Alexander (actor)
Shane Warne (world famous cricket player)
Patrick Bruel (French actor and singer)
Lou Diamond Phillips (actor and singer)
Marlon Wayans (actor)
Shannon Elizabeth (actor)
Jordan Farmar (basketball player)

– Elimination percentages are as follows:

68 percent of the overall starters in this tournament survived the first day.
30 percent of the overall starters survived the second day (so far — subject to change as 2-B has not been included).

– The Top Five chip leaders going into Day 3 are:

1.  Andrew Gaw        Philippines        386,000
2.  Eric Cloutier        Quebec        383,000
3.  Ed Perry            USA            370,000
4.  Brandon Demes    USA            369,800
5.  Miika Puumalanien    Finland        361,200

– Of the Top 100 players in chip stnadings, 42 are interntional (non-American) players.  Nations amidst the Top 100 includes:

Philippines
Canada
USA
Finland
UK
Sweden
Australia
Denmark
Portugal
France
Netherlands
Ireland
Macedonia
Hungary
Czech Republic
Israel
Switzerland
South Africa
Belgium
Romania

Putting Day Two in Perspective

– In 2008, at the conclusion of Day 2, the eventual champion Peter Eastgate was ranked in 484th place.

– In 2007, at the conclusion of Day 2, the eventual champion Jerry Yang was ranked in 26th place.

– In 2006, at the conclusion of Day 2, the eventual champion Jamie Gold was ranked in 155th place.

– Based on WSOP figures during the mega-era (2006 to present), five out of six Day Two chip leaders have cashed.  The previous results are as follows:

2008 2-A – Brian Schaedlich finished in 456th place
2008 2-B – Peter Biebel finished in 273rd place

2007 2-A – Jeff Banghart finished in 41st place
2007 2-B – Gus Hansen finished in 61st place

2006 2-A – Yuriy Kozinskiy did not cash
2006 2-B – Dmitri Nobles finished in 76th place

World Series of Poker Statistics

– The 2009 WSOP Main Event now ranks as the third-largest live poker tournament in history.  Only the 2006 and 2008 Main Event championships drew larger numbers.  It should be noted that if the Rio had greater seating capacity (Day 1-D sold out), this year’s tournament would have unquestionably surpassed last year’s attendance figures.

– The total prize pool for this year’s Main Event totals $61,043,600.  However, this figure is not final.  Since interest is added to payouts for players who will constitute the November Nine, the final figure will actually be slightly higher.

– The number of female participants in this year’s Main Event is estimated to be 187, which amounts to 2.8 percent of the field.  There is no official record since entrants are not designated by sex.  However, it has been customary in recent years to count every player at the start of Day One (actually all flights A-D) and take a head count of female players.  Oddly enough, despite the low percentage of female players, there were three different tables with three females in the tournament.

– All players who make it to the final table this year (the November Nine) will earn at least $1 million.  The 2009 world champion will collect
$8,546,435 for first place (plus slightly more money in added interest).

– With registration for this year’s Main Event, the World Series of Poker crossed the $1,000,000,000 threshold in total prize money awarded to players.  During its 40-year history, the WSOP has paid out $1,041,265,271.  Incredibly, more than $600,000,000 has been paid out just in the last five years alone, since Harrah’s Entertainment assumed control of the tournament.  Here is the historical prize pool information for the World Series of Poker.

2009 — $174,011,894
2008 — $180,774,427
2007 — $159,796,918
2006 — $159,599,815
1970-2005 — $354,000,000

– This is the 57th and final event on the 2009 WSOP schedule which is played in Las Vegas.  Four more gold bracelet events will take place later this year in London, England at the Empire Casino, to be held from September 19th through October 1st.

– Players have come to the WSOP from at least 115 different nations and territories.  By contrast, only 80 nations were represented at the most recent Winter Olympic Games.

– This marks the fifth consecutive year the WSOP has been held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.  Prior to 2005, the WSOP was held at Binion’s Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas.  More money has been awarded to winners within the Rio during the past five years than during the entire proceeding 35-year period at the Horseshoe.  This is a testament to the expansion of the WSOP since Harrah’s Entertainment assumed ownership and control of the world most prestigious poker event.

Note:  All results are now official and may be reprinted by media.

__________________________________

For official news and the latest updates from the 2009 World Series of Poker, visit:  www.worldseriesofpoker.com

For statistics and historical information from the 2009 World Series of Poker, contact Nolan Dalla at:  nolandalla@aol.com or nolandalla@gmail.com

For official photographs from the 2009 World Series of Poker, visit:  http://pa.photoshelter.com/user/impdi   For specific media photo requests, email image22@aol.com and list “Urgent Media Request” as the subject line.  Note:  All photos must be credited as follows:  “IMPDI 2009”

Get the latest photos, results and tidbits on our Facebook page at:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-World-Series-of-Poker/106465110389?ref=nf# and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wsop

The 2009 World Series of Poker’s title sponsor is Jack Link’s Beef Jerky.  For more information, visit:  www.jacklinks.com

World Series of Poker President and Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack

Vice President of Sponsorship and Licensing — Ty Stewart

Vive President of Broadcasting and New Media – Craig Abrahams

Director of Communications – Seth Palansky

Regional Vice President of Specialty Gaming — Howard Greenbaum

WSOP Events Manager — Angele Marshall

WSOP Marketing Manager – Elizabeth Anne Hill

WSOP Tournament Director – Jack Effel

ABOUT THE WSOP
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world awarding millions of dollars in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport’s top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970.  In 2008, the event attracted 58,720 entrants from 124 different countries to the Rio in Las Vegas and awarded over $180 million in prize money.  The creation of the new delayed Main Event final table more than doubled ratings on ESPN year-over-year.  In December, 2008 the WSOP was named the 7th most admired sports brand in North America by the Turnkey Team Brand Index trailing only the more established NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR and PGA Tour among sports properties.  In addition, the WSOP has formed groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent in 2007 of the World Series of Poker Europe. For more information on the World Series of Poker, please visit our website at www.worldseriesofpoker.com.

Official 2009 tournament figures will be released Tuesday, July 7, after the close of Main Event registration, but running tallies confirm the landmark.

“It’s nice to reach this milestone during the 40th annual WSOP,” said World Series of Poker President and Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack.  “What’s most remarkable is that nearly two-thirds of this amount has been awarded in just the last four years.  Poker is alive and well and here to stay.”

With registration still open for the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship – commonly referred to as the Main Event – the 40th annual WSOP already has had a remarkable summer despite the global recession.  For the fourth consecutive year, the total WSOP prize pool will exceed $155 million – compared with a total of $354 million in prize money awarded during the WSOP’s first 36 years.

The WSOP is the world’s richest competitive event. Comparisons with other prominent events include:

•    The Daytona 500 has awarded its winners some $21,327,256 since 1959. In just the past three years, WSOP Main Event champions have received $29,402,416.
•    Wimbledon awarded a total of £12,550,000, or roughly $20.5 million, in 2009, less than a quarter of what the WSOP will award this year.
•    The Kentucky Derby has paid its winners a total of approximately $16.7 million since 2001 – less than the nearly $17.5 million taken home by the 2007 and 2008 WSOP Main Event champions.

Here is the historical prize pool information for the World Series of Poker.

•    2009 – TBD.
•    2008 – $180, 774,427
•    2007 – $159,796,918
•    2006 – $159,599,815
•    1970-2005 – $354,000,000

About the World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world awarding millions of dollars in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport’s top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970.  In 2008, the event attracted 58,720 entrants from 124 different countries to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and awarded over $180 million in prize money.  The creation of the new delayed Main Event final table more than doubled ratings on ESPN year over year.  The WSOP in December 2008 was named the 7th most admired sports brand in North America by the Turnkey Sports Survey, trailing only the older and more established NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR and PGA Tour among sports properties.  In addition, the WSOP has experienced groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent in 2007 of the World Series of Poker EuropeSM. For more information on the World Series of Poker, please visit our website at www.worldseriesofpoker.com or www.twitter.com/wsop.

Official Report
Event #56
Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In:  $5,000
Number of Entries:  928
Total Net Prize Pool:  $4,361,600
Number of Places Paid:  90
First Place Prize:  $1,003,218
June 30-July 2, 2009

Tournament Highlights:

Event Headlines –

1.  Matt Hawrilenko Wins His First WSOP Gold Bracelet

2.  Boston Poker Pro Wins $1 Million Cash Prize

3.  On Eve of Main Event, Hawrilenko Wins Third-Largest Cash Prize of 2009 WSOP

The Champion –

•    The 2009 World Series of Poker $5,000 buy-in Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em champion is Matt Hawrilenko, from Boston, MA.

•    Hawrilenko is a 27-year-old poker pro.

•    Hawrilenko is also known as “Hoss-TBF.”

•    Hawrilenko is 27-years-old.  He is a graduate of Princeton University.  He earned his degree in Public Policy Administration.

•    Prior to becoming a poker pro, Hawrilenko was an options trader.  He worked for the Susquehanna Financial Group, which has fueled a number of highly-skilled former WSOP gold bracelet winners, including Bill Chen, Jay Sipelstein, Eric Brooks, Jerrod Ankenman, Matt Glanz, and Rep Porter.

•    This was Hawrilenko’s third final table appearance at this year’s WSOP.

•    Hawrilenki collected $1,003,218 for first place.  He was also awarded his first WSOP gold bracelet.

•    This amounts to the third-highest first place prize at this year’s WSOP.  Only the $40,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event and the $50,000 buy-in HORSE event generated higher first place prizes.

•    Hawrilenko becomes the 131st “WSOP Millionaire” in history, which is defined as players who have won in excess

•    According to official records, Hawrilenko now has 1 win, 5 final table appearances, and 13 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP.  His career WSOP earnings now total $1,288,948.

The Final Table / In-the-Money Finishers –

•    The final table included no former WSOP gold bracelet winners.  This was the 17th final table at this year’s WSOP which guaranteed a first-time winner.

•    The runner up was Josh Brikis, from Pittsburgh, PA.  He collected a very respectable $619,608 for second place.

•    Former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Daniel Schreiber, Bill Edler, William Childs, David Chiu, Blair Hinkle, Davidi Kaiati, Ken Aldridge, Burt Boutin, Alex Kravchenko, Bill Chen, and Phil Hellmuth.

•    Phil Hellmuth’s 24th-place finish in this event was the 74th cash if his WSOP career.  This ranks first on the all-time cashes list, which is Men “the Master” Nguyen’s 230th-place showing in this event gives him 65 cashes at the WSOP.  This currently ranks second on the all-time list.

Odds and Ends –

•    This was the fourth-largest prize pool of the 2009 WSOP.

•    The $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Six-handed championship attracted 928 entries.  The total prize pool amounted to $4,361,600.  The top 90 finishers collected prize money.

•    The tournament was played over three consecutive days.

•    The tournament officially began on Tuesday, June 29th, at 12 noon.  The tournament officially ended on Friday, July 3rd, at 1:30 am.

WSOP Statistics –

•    Through the conclusion of Event #56, the 2009 WSOP has attracted 54,381 entries.  $112,968,294 in total prize money has been awarded to winners.

•    Multiple Gold Bracelet Winners at the 2009 WSOP:

Jeffrey Lisandro — 1st, 1st, 1st
Brock Parker — 1st, 1st
Phil Ivey — 1st, 1st
Greg Mueller – 1st, 1st

•    Gold Bracelet Plus 2nd-Place Finishers at the 2009 WSOP:

Ville Wahlbeck — 1st, 2nd (+ 3rd and +6th)
James Van Alstyne — 1st, 2nd (+ 6th)
Pete “The Greek” Vilandos — 1st, 2nd
Angel Guillen — 1st, 2nd
Vitaly Lunkin — 1st, 2nd (+4th)
Brandon Cantu – 1st, 2nd
Marc Naalden – 1st, 2nd

•    Multiple Top-Three Finishers at the 2009 WSOP:

Ville Wahlbeck — 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Steve Sung — 1st, 3rd
Scott Clements — 2nd, 3rd
Eric Baldwin – 1st, 3rd

•    WINNERS – BY NATION:  Through Event #56 – the nationalities of WSOP gold bracelet winners reads as follows:

United States – 36
United Kingdom – 3
Canada – 3
Australia – 2
Germany – 2
Russian Federation – 1
Finland – 1
Sweden – 1
Mexico – 1
Italy – 1
Holland – 1
Hungary – 1
Iran – 1

Note:  Last year 19 of the 59 gold bracelet events were won by non-Americans (32 percent).  In, 2007, the number was 15 of 55 (29 percent).  In 2006, the number was 5 of 45 (11 percent).

•    WINNERS – BY CITY:  Through Event #54 – the following cities have produced multiple WSOP gold bracelet winners (Note:  Metropolitan area suburbs are included in major city counts):

Las Vegas, Nevada – 10
Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) – 4
Salerno, Italy – 3
Los Angeles, California – 3
Washington, DC (Maryland and Virginia Suburbs) – 3
London, England – 2
New York, NY – 2

•    Event #56 winner Matt Hawrilenko is to be classified as an amateur player.  Accordingly, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard currently reads (not counting Casino Employees Event):

Professionals —     39 wins
(Thang Luu, Steven Sung, Jason Mercier, Phil Ivey-1, Rami Boukai, Anthony Harb, Ville Wahlbeck, Keven Stammen, Brock Parker-1, Jeffrey Lisandro- 1, Daniel Alaei, Brock Parker-2, John-Paul Kelly, Jeff Carris, Nick Schulman, Phil Ivey-2, Pete Vilandos, Tomas Alenius, Roland de Wolfe, J.C. Tran, James Van Alstyne, Angel, Guillen, Greg Mueller-1, Eric Baldwin, Jordan Smith, Jeffrey Lisandro-2, Richard Austin, Marc Naalden, Matt Graham, Peter Traply, Jerrod Ankenman, Jeffrey Lisandro-3, John Kabbaj, Jeff Ahmadi, Brandon Cantu, Greg Mueller-2, Carston Joh, David Bach, Matt Hawrilenko)

Amateurs —     9 wins
(Freddie Ellis, Ken Aldridge, Travis Johnson, Zac Fellows, Michael Eise, Michael T. Davis, Jorg Peisert, David J. Halpert, Tony Veckey)

Semi-Pros —     7 wins
(Vitaly Lunkin, Brian Lemke, Lisa Hamilton, Leo Wolpert, Ray Foley, Derek Raymond, Jeff Ahmadi)

•    Fourteen of the 56 winners this year (25 percent) were previous gold bracelet winners.  There have been three double winners in 2009 — Brock Parker, Phil Ivey, and Greg “FBT” Mueller.  There has been one triple winner in 2009 — Jeffrey Lisandro.

•    Through the conclusion of Event 56, the WSOP “Player of the Year” standings reads as follows (with point totals):

355 – Jeffrey Lisandro
320 – Ville Wahlbeck
242 – Phil Ivey
240 – Greg Mueller
240 – Vitaly Lunkin
227 – Brock Parker
220 – James Van Alstyne
205 – Matt Hawrilenko
195 – Roland de Wolfe
195 – Daniel Negreanu
185 – Vitaly Lunkin
185 – Marc Naalden

Note:  For the latest updates, check out the official WSOP website:  www.worldseriesofpoker.com

Errors and Omissions (Previous Reports) –

•    None.

Note:  All results are now official and may be reprinted by media.

__________________________________

For official news and the latest updates from the 2009 World Series of Poker, visit:  www.worldseriesofpoker.com

For statistics and historical information from the 2009 World Series of Poker, contact Nolan Dalla at:  nolandalla@aol.com or nolandalla@gmail.com

For official photographs from the 2009 World Series of Poker, visit:  http://pa.photoshelter.com/user/impdi   For specific media photo requests, email image22@aol.com and list “Urgent Media Request” as the subject line.  Note:  All photos must be credited as follows:  “IMPDI 2009”

Get the latest photos, results and tidbits on our Facebook page at:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-World-Series-of-Poker/106465110389?ref=nf# and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wsop

The 2009 World Series of Poker’s title sponsor is Jack Link’s Beef Jerky.  For more information, visit:  www.jacklinks.com

World Series of Poker President and Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack

Vice President of Sponsorship and Licensing — Ty Stewart

Vive President of Broadcasting and New Media – Craig Abrahams

Director of Communications – Seth Palansky

Regional Vice President of Specialty Gaming — Howard Greenbaum

WSOP Events Manager — Angele Marshall

WSOP Marketing Manager – Elizabeth Anne Hill

WSOP Tournament Director – Jack Effel

ABOUT THE WSOP
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world awarding millions of dollars in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport’s top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970.  In 2008, the event attracted 58,720 entrants from 124 different countries to the Rio in Las Vegas and awarded over $180 million in prize money.  The creation of the new delayed Main Event final table more than doubled ratings on ESPN year-over-year.  In December, 2008 the WSOP was named the 7th most admired sports brand in North America by the Turnkey Team Brand Index trailing only the more established NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR and PGA Tour among sports properties.  In addition, the WSOP has formed groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent in 2007 of the World Series of Poker Europe. For more information on the World Series of Poker, please visit our website at www.worldseriesofpoker.com.

Online poker players invited to join Doyle Brunson across the pond by winning an English Poker Open seat this weekend

As thousands of players cram into a ballroom in the middle of the Nevada desert this weekend for the start of the 2009 WSOP Main Event, DoylesRoom.com is offering online poker players the chance to head to Europe with Doyle Brunson through a weekend tournament that’s less crowded but just as exciting.

DoylesRoom.com’s English Poker Open $7k Final is scheduled for Sunday, July 4th at 4:00 PM ET. The $250+18 Texas Hold’em tournament pays out the following $7,000 package:

- $5,000 + $300 USD English Poker Open Main Event buy-in
- $1,700 for travel and accommodations
- DoylesRoom.com Event Gear
- Personal introduction and photos with Doyle Brunson
- Autographed copies of Super System 1 and 2

Poker players who don’t win an English Poker Open package this Sunday aren’t out of luck. Qualifiers for a weekly English Poker Open $7k Final will continue to run several times daily until August 30 and poker players can get into one for as low as $4.

The $1,000,000 English Poker Open takes place at the Dusk Till Dawn Casino in the UK from September 15 – 17. The tournament, which is expected to attract the biggest names in poker from across the globe including Doyle Brunson, is limited to 270 players. More information on this tournament is available at the all-new DoylesRoom.com website.

I owe lots of thank you’s around Vegas. Harrahs, Nolan Dalla, Jeffrey Pollack all bent over backwards to accommodate our seminars with Mike Caro.  These seminars were a huge success and we are talking about doing more at the Harrah’s properties across the country. The Wynn and Encore were unbelievable helping with our VIP party and the Doyle Brunson party. I don’t know how the other WSOP parties were, but the Blush club at the Wynn was totally packed. You could barely move and everyone had a great time. Where was Jenny Woo?

I was really impressed with the number of poker players that came to the party. Phil Hellmuth, Jen Harman, Gavin Smith, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Jeffrey Lisandro, Devilfish and many more came by even though they had commitments to be elsewhere. Thanks Guys!

I guess I’m going to play the WSOP on July 4th. No particular reason just the way my schedule worked out. Looks like it is going to be tons of players and it is a great sign our economy is getting better. I’m going try my best in the Main Event but it is tough having a bullseye painted on your chest. All these youngsters try to take me out and it’s hard for your hands to be good every time.

All my pals from DoylesRoom are leaving to go back to Costa Rica. There are lots of new faces to go along with the old ones and things are really rolling down there.

I gotta go to a book signing at the Rio. I’ll try to keep up with the blog.

-DB