World Series of Poker
Poker is becoming increasingly popular around the world. A World Series of Poker is held every year in Las Vegas, where the winner can win millions of dollars. The televising of Poker has raised it to a quasi-sporting event.
World Series of Poker Logo
2009 World Series of Poker
Contestants resulting from a series of WSOP qualifying poker tournaments held throughout the year participated in the WSOP main events which were held from May through July, 2009 at the RIO All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. At the main events the number of contestants were reduced from 6,494 to the final 9. Final table play to determined the winner will be held at the Rio from November 7th to 9th, 2009.
Final 9
2009 World Series of Poker Final 9 - See table below.
| Seat | Name | Occupation | No. of Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darvin Moon | Lumberjack | $58,930,000 |
| 2 | Eric Buchman | Poker Pro | $34,800,000 |
| 3 | Steven Beglelter | Former Investment Banker | $29,885,000 |
| 4 | Jeff Shulman | Publisher | $19,580,000 |
| 5 | Joseph Cada | Poker Pro | $13,215,000 |
| 6 | Kevin Schaffel | Semi-retired Business Owner | $12,390,000 |
| 7 | Phil Ivey | Poker Pro | $9,765,000 |
| 8 | Antoine Saout | Poker Pro | $9,500,000 | 8 | James Akenhead | Poker Pro | $6,800,000 |
World Series of Poker
2009 Winner: Joseph Cada
In 2009 Joseph Cada won the WSOP final table play and became the 2009 world poker champion, taking home the $8.55 million first prize. Joseph Cada is only 21 years old, and became the youngest player to ever win the poker championship.
Cada's opponent in the final table play was Davin Moon, who got $5.18 million for his second place finish.
ESPN broadcasts World Series of Poker events as edited programs. The 2009 final table play was broadcast by ESPN on Nov. 10, 2009.
Both the WSOP and the RIO All Suites Hotel & Casino are owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc. Harrah's obtained the rights to the Word Series of Poker when they purchased the Binion's Horeshoe Casino in 2004.
Past World Series Of Poker Champions
The winners of the World Series of Poker over the years from 2000 to 2009 are shown below.
| Year | No. of Entrants | Champion | Top Prize, $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 6494 | Joseph Cada | 8,550,000 |
| 2008 | Peter Eastgate | 9,100,000 | |
| 2007 | 6358 | Jerry Yang | 8,250,000 |
| 2006 | 8773 | Jamie Gold | 12,000,000 |
| 2005 | 5619 | Joe Hatchmen | 7,500,000 |
| 2004 | 2576 | Greg Raymer | 5,000,000 |
| 2003 | 839 | Chris Moneymaker | 2,500,000 |
| 2002 | 631 | Robert Vorkonyi | 2,000,000 |
| 2001 | 613 | Juan Carlos Mortensen | 1,500,000 |
| 2000 | 512 | Chris Ferguson | 1,500,000 |
The 2009 - 2010 World Series Of Poker circuit event schedule is shown below.
| Date | Location |
|---|---|
| Oct. 16-25, 2009 | Horeshoe Hammond |
| Oct. 23 - Nov.2, 2009 | Horeshoe Southern Indiana |
| Nov. 5-17, 2009 | Harvey's Lake Tahoe |
| Dec. 4-20, 2009 | Harrah's Atlantic City |
| Jan. 20-Feb.11, 2010 | Harrah's Tunica |
| Feb. 18-Mar.2, 2010 | Horeshoe Council Blufs |
| Mar. 3-14, 2010 | Caesars Atlantic City |
| Mar. 18-31, 2010 | Harrah's Rincon |
| Apr. 1-14, 2010 | Harrah's St. Louis |
| Apr. 14-30, 2010 | Caesars Palace |
| May 7-19, 2009 | Harrah's New Orleans |
On-line Poker
In 2003 Chris Moneymaker qualified for the World Series of Poker tournament in an on-line satellite tournament. He went on to win the tournament and its $2,500,000 first prize. Such on-line satellite tournaments are no longer held.
Whether or not it is legal to play online poker in the United States is a subject of great debate. The law is somewhat unclear as to what can and cannot be offered when it comes to online poker games. Because of this, many online gambling sites have decided to no longer offer their poker games to players in the United States. One popular site that still does is Full Tilt Poker.com shown on the right.
To find out more about gambling on-line follow this Link: Internet Gambling
