The 2009 World Series of Poker was the 40th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 27 to July 15. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event. The “November Nine” concept returned for the second year, with the finalists of the Main Event returning on November 7.
Main event
The $10,000 World Championship No Limit Texas Hold ’em Main Event began on July 3 with the first of four starting days. After reaching the final table of nine players on July 15, the final table will once again be delayed until November 7. The main event once again was a draw for many celebrities to play including:
Day 1-a: Jason Alexander, Brad Garrett, Orel Hershiser, Nelly, Jennifer Tilly,
Day 1-b: Shane Warne
Day 1-c: Antonio Tarver, Paul Wight
Day 1-d: Shannon Elizabeth, Sully Erna, Jordan Farmar, Audley Harrison, Scott Ian, Lou Diamond Phillips, Ray Romano, John Salley, Nate Silver, Sam Simon, Marlon Wayans, Torrie Wilson
The last day one, day 1d, had by far the highest number of participants, 2,809 (the lowest was day 1b (4th of July), 873). According to news reports, as many as 500 players, including Patrik Antonius, T. J. Cloutier, Layne Flack and Ted Forrest, were denied entry because capacity was filled.
Players started with 30,000 chips, up from 20,000 in previous Main Events.
Notable achievements
Jeff Lisandro became the first player to win a bracelet in each of the Stud disciplines in the same World Series. In doing so, Lisandro was the first player to win three WSOP bracelets in the same year since Phil Ivey achieved this feat in 2002.
In addition to Lisandro, Ivey, Brock Parker and Greg Mueller won multiple bracelets during the series.
Ville Wahlbeck, who won Event 12, became the first Finnish player to win a bracelet.
Peter Traply, who won Event 41, became the first Hungarian player to win a bracelet.
Peter Eastgate became the third defending champion in the last five years to be the last remaining champion in the Main Event. 2004 champion Greg Raymer was the last remaining champion in the 2005 Main Event, which was won by Joe Hachem, who was the last remaining champion in the 2006 Main Event.
It’s all over. Well, for a few months at least. The November Nine was set just before 11 p.m. as monster chip leader Darvin Moon’s Eights cracked Jordan Smith’s Aces. The lucky survivors are all guaranteed $1,263,602 and will return to the Amazon Room in November to play out the final table and find out who will earn the coveted bracelet and $8,546,435 grand prize. What will the time off mean for the players? Will Moon continue to dominate? Will Phil Ivey be able find each player’s weakness? We’ll see you in November!
Final Table
1st Joe Cada $8,547,042
2nd Darvin Moon $5,182,928
3rd Antoine Saout $3,479,670
4th Eric Buchman $2,502,890
5th Jeff Shulman $1,953,452
6th Steven Begleiter $1,587,160
7th Phil Ivey $1,404,014
8th Kevin Schaffel $1,300,231
9th James Akenhead $1,263,602
