WSOP SCHEDULE FOR 2009

The 2009 World Series of Poker Schedule

2008 WSOP Schedule

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One has to marvel at the incredible numbers that the World Series of Poker (WSOP) continues to provide in spite of evidence that would project an overall decline in poker's popularity. After all, poker doesn't seem to have the trendy staying power that it once did, making an appearance every half hour on television and defining oversaturation with everything from poker t-shirts and video games to keychains. Come to think of it, is it really such a bad thing that the "fad" has died down a bit?

The 2009 WSOP schedule will have a tough act to follow with last year's Series setting substantial new records. Despite a wretched global economy, an online poker market that has yet to fully recover from the US government's obsession with blocking its citizens from playing $5 Sit and Gos in their pajamas, and an overall drop in poker's sponsored overhyping, 2008 saw records in both overall entrants and total prize money.

Nearly 58,000 players battled for their share of over $180,000,000 in total prizes over the course of 55 events. It's truly refreshing to see so many poker players still flock to the WSOP and stimulate the poker economy, proving that there are still millions dedicated to the game.

With the professionals dominating the $50,000 Chip Reese HORSE event (Scotty Nguyen ended up taking the bracelet last year) and further cementing its stature as the new true Main Event, I expect the 2009 WSOP schedule to continue to be built around this event. It's simply more interesting to watch players we know and have an opinion on one way or the other. I believe this is the main reason why a poker show like High Stakes Poker can succeed while the WPT can't even secure a network at this point.

On a personal note, one idea that I would really prefer to see missing in the final 2009 WSOP schedule is the delayed Main Event final table. While I understand Harrah's reasons for testing this out (more hype and more money) it just really doesn't feel like the WSOP. As I write this and prepare for 2009 we don't even have a champion for 2008.

I don't even think that Harrah's achieved their goal with the "November 9" gimmick. Instead of the final table players becoming household names and building hype for the final table, I feel that casual fans just forgot about the whole thing and, understandably, most of us just became disinterested. The lack of professionals in the final mix didn't help.

I expect the 2009 WSOP schedule to look almost identical to last year's version: several $10,000 championship events, lots of mixed events, and at least 55 total events. After all, with so much money being invested in everything from sports events to movies to video games, sequels with minor tinkering are far easier to pull off and have become the norm rather than truly creating something creative and new. Despite high fees and sometimes questionable playing conditions, Harrah's always puts on a solid WSOP so perhaps sticking with what has worked in the past isn't such a bad thing.

The 2009 WSOP schedule has yet to be determined. Typically, the event dates are finalized by late December or early January. Please continue to check this page as we will post a comprehensive schedule as soon as it becomes available to the public. If you'd like to be automatically e-mailed when the 2009 WSOP schedule is available, please subscribe to our newsletter.

World Series of Poker - 2009 Tournament Schedule

Event	Date	Time	Tournament	Buy-In
1	TBA

World Series of Poker Circuit - 2008/2009 Tournament Schedule

Event	Date	Location	Tournament	Buy-in	Winner
1	10/2/08 - 10/14/08	Horseshoe Southern Indiana	No-Limit Hold'em	$5,150
2	10/24/08 - 11/2/08	Horseshoe Hammond	No-Limit Hold'em	TBA
3	11/6/08 - 11/16/08	Harvey's Lake Tahoe	No-Limit Hold'em	TBA
4	12/5/08 - 12/15/08	Harrah's Atlantic City	No-Limit Hold'em	TBA
5	1/20/09 - 2/9/09	Harrah's Tunica	No-Limit Hold'em	TBA
6	2/12/09 - 2/25/09	Horseshoe Council Bluffs	No-Limit Hold'em	TBA
7	3/4/09 - 3/14/09	Caesars Atlantic City	No-Limit Hold'em	TBA
8	3/19/09 - 3/29/09	Harrah's Rincon San Diego	No-Limit Hold'em	TBA
9	4/12/09 - 4/29/09	Caesars Palace	No-Limit Hold'em	TBA
10	5/8/09 - 5/20/09	Harrah's New Orleans	No-Limit Hold'em	TBA