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Recession? Pah. The numbers were fine and the poker was finer as the world warmed up for the WSOP main event with a month of top action.
There were double bracelets, defended titles, legends and Americans on fire. The 40th World Series of Poker certainly got off to a flyer in Las Vegas. As we were going to print, Event 40 had just finished, but the initial events had certainly provided enough excitement to last the whole Series.
LIFE BEGINS AT 40,000
The Player of the Year title is always hotly contested, but as early as EVENT 2 ($40,000 No Limit Hold’em) there seemed to emerge a definite contender.
There are plenty of Russians who seemed set for WSOP glory, but in the end, Vitaly Lunkin took down the special event, scheduled to celebrate the 40th World Series of Poker, winning $1,891,012 on top of his gold bracelet.
The mammoth buy-in attracted all the big names, with Phils Hellmuth and Ivey, Doyle Brunson, and Patrik Antonius all stumping up the four stacks of High Society. Whilst most of the former world champions on display couldn’t muster a cash between them, it was 2004 champion (and this issue’s H.O.R.S.E. guide contributor) Greg Raymer who eased into the money places, eventually coming in 3rd behind Isaac Haxton and Lunkin (delivering the fatal blow to Haxton with pocket aces). Bodog’s Justin Bonomo and Ted Forrest also contested the difficult final table.
MORE THANG FOR YOUR BUCK
If the organisers of the 2009 WSOP were worried about a drop in numbers, they needn’t have. After an impressive turnout for the one-off $40,000 Hold’em event, EVENT 3 – the $1,500 Omaha 8-or-better took place with a record-setting 918 anteing up.
In the end, another record was broken when Thang Luu took down the bracelet, only his 2nd ever, and $263,135 in prize money. Amazingly Luu was defending the same title he won last year when he took down the title for $243,342 in what was at the time the biggest Omaha tournament ever played. And, in the previous year, Luu had come runner-up in the SAME EVENT.
With Poker Pack’s Steve Sung notching a title up on the board for the boys (his gang includes JC Tran and Chino Rheem) in the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em (EVENT 4) it was the turn of another consistent American to shine, Jason Mercier.
Mercier, more well-known to UK poker players from his triumph in the EPT London High Rollers event last autumn, fully put his stamp on the US game after taking down the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event (EVENT 5) at the WSOP.
Meanwhile, any fears of the recession dampening poker players’ spirits seemed to be certainly premature with the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em tournament (EVENT 7) attracting 2,793 players – the 2nd event at this year’s Series that had attracted more than 2,000 runners. So far, over the first seven events this year there had been an incredible 11,741 players - up 3,224 compared to the first seven events at the same point last year. |
