Economic affects on 2009 WSOP

Rumors were flying in the months leading up to the 2009 World Series of Poker that the poor state of the economy, not only in the United States, but all over the world, would see attendance take a drastic hit.

WSOP officials even added a $1,000 event to this years lineup calling it a ‘Stimulus Special’. It seems that once the series started this year there was a buzz about record numbers of entrants being seen.

One event that didn’t have a good showing was the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event in which less than 70 players entered. Last year there were more than double that number in the same event.

A few of this year’s events have surprised WSOP officials, including the third event , $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event in which 918 players took part in the game. Last year there were 833 players in the event.

The previously mentioned ‘Stimulus Special’, or Event #5 saw the largest number of entries in a non-Main Event tournament in the history of the World Series. Otherwise attendance has been steady and not nearly the 30% decline in numbers that was earlier predicted.

News Added: 29 June, 2009

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