2009 World Series of Poker set to repeat four month break for Main Event again

The organizers of the World Series of Poker thought that the four month break between the Main Event and its final table was such a success that they plan to do it again this year. They will also be adding a $40k buy-in tournament to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the WSOP.

The four month break, which was started last year, delayed the final table action of the Main Event and allowed ESPN to broadcast the event live without viewers knowing the results. The tournament field started at 6,844 in July and dwindled down to 9 players before the long break. The remaining nine then reconvened in November when Peter Eastgate became the youngest ever Main Event winner and $9.15million richer.

Cable network and tournament officials said the ratings rose by 50% for the final table viewing which aired the same day play finished.

Dennis Phillips, a trucking account manager from Cottage Hills, Ill., who won $4.5 million for finishing third in the main event last year, said that while he thought the break was a good thing, he thought 117 days was an extremely long time.

"I was hoping they could cut it down," Phillips told The Associated Press on Sunday. "I think it would help - it just seemed like it went on forever. I was ready for the final table probably 60 days after the break."

Phil Hellmuth, who holds the record for most WSOP gold bracelets, said that most of the players thought that the break was good for the game and allowed more of a buildup to the winner, creating a bigger scene when the final table action begun.

The World Series of Poker, starting May 27 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, will have 57 gold bracelet events, up from 55 last year. The main event starts July 3 and a winner will be crowned Nov. 10.

The special $40,000 no-limit Hold 'em tournament is the first series tournament to be held after a $500 tournament for casino employees only.

Hellmuth said Sunday that the high price tag of the event; the only one with a higher price is the $50k H.O.R.S.E. game, may make players feel like it rivals the main event in terms of prestige.

"Given my druthers, I'd like to see that be a $25,000 buy in, but for the 40th anniversary, 40 seems OK," Hellmuth said.

Last year, the main event and H.O.R.S.E. events were considered the most coveted tournaments. Higher buy-in prices mean fewer players will be able to enter, making it more likely that recognizable pros like Hellmuth and others will make up the final table. Poker professional Scotty Nguyen, who won the main event in 1998, took home nearly $2 million for winning the H.O.R.S.E. tournament last year.

The series is also offering what it calls a "stimulus special," a $1,000 buy-in event during the first weekend that it hopes will attract a record crowd for a non-main event tournament.

One big missing component of this years WSOP are the rebuy events as tournament directors have taken those games out of the rotation. During those rebuy events a player could buy back into the tournament if they were knocked out early in the game.

"I think that's a mistake (to take the rebuy games away)," Hellmuth said.

Hellmuth said he likes re-buy tournaments not because he likes to spend money to stay in a tournament, but because opponents assume they will have to and therefore don't play as well as they should.

He said that players like himself and Johnny Chan, a two-time world champion in 1987 and 1988, need only one buy-in to do well in re-buy tournaments.
"I don't think you can buy a bracelet," he said.

Complete schedule of the events has not been release but will be posted when released.

News Added: 26 January, 2009

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