DAY 4

Tournament Notes:

Tournament Highlights:

Day Four Headlines

1. World Series of Poker Main Event Continues - All Surviving 407 Players Are Now in the Money

2. Late on Day Four, Matt Affleck (Seattle, WA) Seizes the Chip Lead

3. Numerous Poker Superstars Still Alive - Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier, Kieth Lehr, Phil Ivey, Blair Rodman, Tom Schneider, Dan Harrington, Joe Hachem, Prahlad Friedman, Kenny Tran, Dennis Phillips, David Benyamine, Fabrice Soulier -- All in Top 200

The Main Event Continues

-- The 2009 WSOP Main Event continued with the play and conclusion of Day 4. The day was most notable for reaching the threshold at which participants break into the money. After nine days and more than 30 hours of tournament play, all in-the-money finishers were guaranteed at least $21,365 in prize money.

-- This day is also referred to as "Bubble Day." This is because several players miss and others make a guaranteed payout. The player who finishes exactly one spot out of the money is referred to as the "bubble finisher." This is generally regarded as the most disappointing fate any tournament player can suffer, since he/she spent the greatest amount of time at the tables (and likely played well enough to go deep), yet collected no prize money.

-- Reaching the money is traditionally one of the tournament's most exciting (and stressful) moments. The difference between cashing and busting out represents a $21,365 swing. For this reason, the pace of play slows down considerably as the bubble approaches. Players tend to play much tighter during this stage, fearing the catastrophic consequences of busting out. For this reason, tournament officials institute a hand-for-hand format which forces all players and tables to play the same number of hands leading up to the bubble point.

-- The pace of play during the first two hours of Day 4 (Level 15) was sonic. The tournament played from 789 at the start all the way down to 659 players in that span, which meant 130 players were eliminated. That translated into a bust out about every 52 seconds.

-- Day 3 began with 789 players. The day ended with 407 survivors.

-- Prize money payouts increase at various intervals. Every player still alive in the tournament (407th place and better) is now guaranteed at least $27,469 in prize money.

-- The day began with WSOP President and Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack alongside WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel. They announced the WSOP "Dealer of the Year" award. The honor went to Dennis McCollum, from Reno, NV. He is a tournament director at the Peppermill Casino. The "Dealer of the Year" prize is given out to the dealer who best demonstrates excellence over the duration of the six-week-long WSOP. McCollum was presented with a luxury watch made by Corum, the official timepieces of the WSOP.

-- This was the 45th day of the WSOP. Play continues for four more days, plus the finale to be played in November.

-- Tomorrow (Sunday) begins at noon and is expected to include five levels of play.

-- Any player dealt four jacks in this year's Main Event receives a special prize from Jack Link's Beef Jerky valued at $100. So far, 34 packages have been given away (through eight completed days).

-- Play on Day 4 began on July 11, 2009 at 12:10 pm.

Play on Day 4

-- Defending champion Peter Eastgate remains very much alive in the 2009 Main Event. He is presently in 202nd place, which is exactly in the middle of the pack. Amazingly, late on Day 2, he was down to just 8,000 in chips, but went on a monster rush during the final hour and ended up with about an average-sized stack. On Day 3, he held steady and also finished the day with an average-sized stack. Eastgate is primed to make the best run by a defending champion since Greg "Fossilman" Raymer's 25-place finish in the 2005 Main Event.

It should be noted that Eastgate was ranked 74th after Day 4 last year, and went on to win the championship.

-- Former world champions who continued play on Day 4 included - Bobby "the Owl" Baldwin (1978), Phil Hellmuth (1989), Dan Harrington (1995), Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (2000), Joe Hachem (2005), and Peter Eastgate (2008). Hellmuth and Ferguson were eliminated, while the other champions all survived.

-- The first player to reach the million-chip mark was Owen Crowe, from Halifax, NS (Canada) - which took place on Day 3. No player has reached the 2 million chip mark at this point. -

- Players competed for four complete levels. Play ended after Level 17. When play resumes tomorrow at Level 18, blinds will be 4,000-8,000 with a 1,000 ante. The average stack size is 478,673.

-- Day 4 started with a field of 789 players and ended with 407 survivors. This means only about 6.2 percent of the original 6,494 starters survived past the fourth day.

-- The hand-for-hand format began when players were five spots out of the money. It took 13 hands to eliminate the next five players. It also took eight hands to move from 649 to 648 players. This was the longest hand-for-hand session in Main Event history, breaking the mark set three years ago (12 hands). It also took 1 hour and 48 minutes to complete.

-- Perhaps the most exciting hand too place exactly one spot out of the money on the fourth hand-for hand when Richard Harrington (Johnson Bayou, LA) moved all-in with A-A and was called by an opponent holding K-J. The flop came K-J-x, which shocked Harrington and everyone who was watching. With the entire tournament room holding its collective breath (hoping for a bust out so they could be guaranteed prize money), the turn and river came 2-2, which gave Harrington a higher two pair with his aces and deuces. The room let out a collective groan and play continued for more than an hour.

-- During the hand-for-hand format, Tournament Director Jack Effel announced at one point when a player was all-in, "He's playing against 648 other players who all hope he busts out."

-- The unfortunate bubble player was Kia Hamadani, from Los Angeles, CA. He was down to a single chip and finally busted out, thus becoming the official 649th-place finisher in the 2009 Main Event. Fortunately, not all was a lost cause for Hamadani. He was brought up to the main stage and stood in front of a few thousand people, feebly attempting to hide his disappointment. WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack made the announcement that Hamadani would receive a nice consolation prize courtesy of Jack Link's Beef Jerky. He became the first player entered into the 2010 WSOP Main Event, as a result of the $10,000 gift prize paid for by Jack Link's.

-- Poker player and game theorist J.P. Massar (Berkley, CA) finished in 627th place. Massar was the person who inspired actor Kevin Spacey's role in the movie "21."

-- Chuck Pacheco (Los Angeles, CA), a Hollywood Producer, finished 612th place.

-- Bob Slezak (Omaha, NE) a former gold bracelet winner and ex-CFO of Ameritrade, finished in 594th place.

-- 2000 WSOP champion Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (Pacific Palisades, CA) finished in 561st place.

-- Two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Jesper Hougaard (Copenhagen, Denmark), finished in 523rd place.

-- Paul Wasicka (Las Vegas, NV), who was the runner-up to Jamie Gold in the 2006 Main Event, finished in 480th place. Wasicka also won the 2007 NBC Heads-Up championship.

-- 1989 WSOP champion and 11-time gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth (Palo Alto, CA) finished in 436th place. This was his second consecutive year to cash in the Main Event after finished 45th last year.

-- Former gold bracelet winner and French singing superstar Patrick Bruel (Paris, France) finished in 428th place.

-- Poker ambassador, former gold bracelet winner, and television commentator Mike Sexton (Las Vegas, NV) cashed. He finished in 420th place. This was Sexton's seventh time to cash in the Main Event.

-- During the day, all 500-denomination chips were raced off. This means the lowest-denomination chip at the start of Day 5 will be 1,000.

-- Players who survived Day 4 will return to continue their quest for the 2009 world poker championship gold bracelet and $8.5 million in prize money on July 12th, starting at noon.

-- Play on Day 4 ended at 7:45 pm.

The Bubble Finisher (Kia Hamadani)

-- The "bubble finisher" was Kia Hamedani, from Los Angles, CA. He is a 26-year-old financial analyst, who plays recreationally, but seriously. was interviewed by several members of the media shortly after busting out, and being presented an entry into next year's Main Event (courtesy of Jack Link's Beef Jerky):

Question: How do you feel?

KH: I'm disappointed obviously. I started the day with 280,000 in chips. I had some really tough hands....we went like six hands during hand-for-hand and I thought I could make it through. But it didn't happen. That's how it goes.

Question: Is there any consolation to getting a buy-in into next year's Main Event?

KH: To tell you the truth, I was not playing in this event just to cash. It's nice. But I was playing to win. It really was that gut-wrenching to finish on the bubble because I was playing to win, anyway.

Question: Can you take us back through how the day went?

KH: I started out the day with 280,000 so I was feeling pretty good. I was actually the chip leader at my table starting the day. I just couldn't win a hand. I went about two hours where I think I won one hand. I got down to about 40,000 and I realized I was getting closer to the money. So, I decided to just fold all the way into it. And then, about ten hands ago when we started playing hand-for-hand I thought I was going to make the money. I had ten hands to play and we were five players away from the money (Note: it was actually 13 hands). Then, it got down to the point where we were only one player and I still had six hands left. Since we had been losing one or to players per hand, to go six hands without losing a single hand was jsut horrible.

Question: You seem remarkably calm for someone who just finished on the bubble.

KH: Like I said, I really was not playing this tournament just to cash. What I want to do at this tournament is to win....I am used to pretty big swings with my normal line of business (investing). So, I understand this is part of the game and you have to take it in stride. That is how the cards fall.

Question: If you could rewind your life seven days earlier and you were to know you would be standing here in 649th place, walking away now with nothing but the worst bad beat story of the tournament, would you still have entered the WSOP and gone through all this?

KH: Definitely. I would not change anything. I had a great time. I had a great run. I think I played well. I got a $10,000 seat out of it, so I basically broke even. It's been a lot of fun. I have no complaints.

Day 5 Chip Leader (Matt Affleck)

-- The chip leader is Matt Affleck, from Seattle, WA. He went on a rush late in the day and overcame several other players to take the top spot over Frenchman Lodovic Lacay (Paris, France). Affleck ended the day with 1,819,000. His closest rival is more than 200,000 chips behind.

-- Affleck does not have many tournament cashes - just four in the past year. But he did cash earlier at this year's WSOP in the Razz event. He also made final tables at WPT Deauville (France) and the California State Poker Championship (runner up).

-- The highest-ranked former WSOP gold bracelet winner after Day 4 is Blaire Hinkle, from Kansas City, MO. Tran is now ranked 9th, with 1,399,000 in chips.

-- Here is how the previous end-of-day chip leaders have fared:

Day 1-A: Redmond Lee (London, UK) - eliminated, did not cash
Day 1-B: Brandon Demes (Tempe, AZ) - eliminated, did not cash
Day 1-C: Joseph Cada (Shelby Township, MI) - currently in 44th place
Day 1-D: Troy Weber (West Terre Haute, IN) - eliminated, did not cash
Day 2-A: Andrew Gaw (Philippines) - eliminated, did not cash
Day 2-B: Amir Lehavot (Weston, FL) - currently in 128th place
Day 3: Bertrand Grospellier (Nancy, France) - currently 16th place
Day 4: Matt Affleck (Seattle, WA) -- TBA

WSOP Main Event (Cashing Records)

MOST CAREER CASHES IN MAIN EVENT:

JOHNSTON BERRY 10
BRUNSON DOYLE 7
BRENES HUMBERTO 7
HEIMOWITZ JAY 7
LESTER JASON 6
HELLMUTH PHIL 6
BONETTI JOHN 6
MOSS JOHNNY 6
LOTT STEVE 6
BALDWIN BOBBY 6
SEXTON MIKE 6
BECHTEL JIM 5
LUND HANS "TUNA" 5
ESPOSITO JOHN 5
TURNER ROBERT 5
HARRINGTON DAN 5
CHAN JOHNNY 5
ALTO JESSE 5
DASTMALCHI HAMID 5
TOMKO DEWEY 5
KELLER JACK 5
PEATE ROD 5
O'DEA DONN 5

MORE ON BERRY JOHNSTON:

BERRY JOHNSTON ALL-TIME ME CASHES (10)

JOHNSTON BERRY $10000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship 1982 3 $104,000.00
JOHNSTON BERRY $10000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship 1985 3 $140,000.00
JOHNSTON BERRY $10000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship 1986 1 $570,000.00
JOHNSTON BERRY $10000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship 1987 32 $7,500.00
JOHNSTON BERRY $10000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship 1989 29 $7,500.00
JOHNSTON BERRY $10000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship 1990 5 $75,150.00
JOHNSTON BERRY $10000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship 1992 17 $10,100.00
JOHNSTON BERRY $10000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship 1995 21 $17,300.00
JOHNSTON BERRY $10000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship 1996 16 $23,400.00
JOHNSTON BERRY $10000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship 2007 113 $58,570.00

MOST CONSECUTIVE CASHES IN MAIN EVENT:

Theodore Park, 4 cashes - 2005-2008
Bo Sehlstedt, 4 cashes- 2004-2007
Robert Turner, 4 cashes- 1991-1994

13 others tied at three including:
Mike Sexton ('91-'93), Johnny Chan ('87-'89) Jay Heimowitz ('87-'89) Hans "Tuna" Lund ('90-'92) Berry Johnston ('85-'87) Andrew Brokos (06'-08') and Stefan Mattsson ('06-'08)

CURRENT STREAK - CONSEUTIVE CASHES:

Theodore Park 2005- 2008 (2009???)
Stefan Mattsson 2006-2008 (2009??)
Andrew Brokos 2006-2008 (2009??)

Players to Watch

-- Here is the current status of all former WSOP world champions who played in this year's Main Event. Six former champions remain still alive:

1972: "Amarillo Slim" Preston - eliminated on Day 2
1975/1976: Doyle Brunson - eliminated on Day 1
1978: Bobby Baldwin - STILL ALIVE (319th place, with 213,000)
1983: Tom McEvoy - eliminated on Day 1
1986: Berry Johnston - eliminated on Day 2
1987/1988: Johnny Chan - eliminated on Day 2
1989: Phil Hellmuth - CASHED IN 436th PLACE
1993: Jim Bechtel - eliminated on Day 3
1995: Dan Harrington - STILL ALIVE (103rd place, with 659,000)
1996: Huck Seed - eliminated on Day 1
1998: Scotty Nguyen - eliminated on Day 2
2000: Chris "Jesus" Ferguson - CASHED IN 561st PLACE
2001: Carlos "the Matador" Mortensen - eliminated on Day 3
2002: Robert Varkonyi - eliminated on Day 2
2003: Chris Moneymaker - eliminated on Day 1
2004: Greg "Fossilman" Raymer - eliminated on Day 3
2005: Joe Hachem - STILL ALIVE (159th place, with 490,000)
2006: Jamie Gold - eliminated in Day 1
2007: Jerry Yang - eliminated on Day 1
2008: Peter Eastgate - STILL ALIVE (202nd place, with 392,000)

-- Here is the current status of all current and former WSOP "Player of the Year" champions who played in this year's Main Event:

2005: Daniel Negreanu - eliminated on Day 1
2006: Allen Cunningham - eliminated on Day 2
2007: Tom Schneider - STILL ALIVE (65th place, with 797,000)
2008: Erick Lindgren - eliminated on Day 2
2009: Jeffrey Lisandro - eliminated on Day 3

-- Here is the current status of those players with notable results from this year's WSOP:

David Bach (HORSE World Championship winner) - eliminated on Day 2

Alex Bolotin ("Ante-Up for Africa" championship winner) - eliminated on Day 3

Darryll Fish (cashed 7 times at this year's WSOP) - eliminated on Day 2

Jeffrey Lisandro (won three gold bracelets this year) - eliminated on Day 3

Ville Wahlbeck (finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th in four events) - eliminated on Day 3

Vitaly Lunkin (finished 1st, 2nd, and 4th in three events) -

STILL ALIVE (268,000 place, below average stack)

Greg Mueller (won two gold bracelets this year) - eliminated on Day 4

Phil Ivey (won two gold bracelets this year) - STILL ALIVE (15th place, with 1,276,000 )

-- Here is the current status of notable non-pro celebrities from this year's Main Event:

Chuck Pachenco (movie producer) - CASHED IN 612th PLACE

Jason Alexander (actor) - eliminated on Day 3

Scott Ian (musician with band "Anthrax") - eliminated on Day 3

Shane Warne (world famous cricket player) - eliminated on Day 3

Torrie Wilson (female wrestler) - eliminated on Day 1

John Salley (former NBA basketball player) - eliminated on Day 1

Patrick Bruel (French actor and singer) - CASHED IN 428th PLACE

Lou Diamond Phillips (actor and singer) - STILL ALIVE (114th PLACE, 607,000)

Marlon Wayans (actor) - eliminated on Day 2

Jordan Farmar (NBA basketball player) - eliminated on Day 3

Sam Simon (Hollywood writer and producer) - eliminated on Day 3

Joseph Kahn (music video producer) - eliminated on Day 1

Ray Romano (actor) - eliminated on Day 1

Sully Erna (musician) - eliminated on Day 1

Shannon Elizabeth (actor) - eliminated on Day 1

Brad Garrett (actor) -- eliminated on Day 1

Jennifer Tilly (actor) - eliminated on Day 1

Orel Hershiser (former major league baseball player - eliminated on Day 1

Historical Footnote: The highest Main Event finish for a (non-poker) celebrity was actor Telly Savalas, who finished 21st in the 1992 championship.

-- Here is the current status of last year's "November Nine" (2009 Main Event Final Table participants):

Ivan Demidov - eliminated on Day 2

Peter Eastgate - STILL ALIVE (202nd place, 397,000 in chips)

Kelly Kim - CASHED IN 423rd PLACE

Craig Marquis - eliminated in Day 1

Scott Montgomery - eliminated on Day 2

Dennis Phillips - STILL ALIVE (189th place, 414,000 in chips)

David "Chino" Rheem - eliminated on Day 1 Ylon Schwartz - eliminated on Day 2

Darus Suharto - eliminated on Day 3

-- Of the remaining players who are still alive going into Day 5, XXX are international (non-American) players. This represents 34 percent of the field. Nations still in contention include:

Argentina -- 1 Australia -- 1 Austria -- 1 Bolivia -- 1 Brazil - 1 Bulgaria - 1 Canada -- 18 Chile -- 1 Denmark - 5 Finland -- 3 France -- 11 Germany 10 Hungary -- 3 Ireland -- 3 Israel -- 2 Italy -- 6 Macedonia - 1 Malaysia -- 1 Mexico -- 1 Netherlands -- 8 Norway -- 2 Panama -- 1 Peru -- 1 Poland -- 1 Russia -- 3 Slovakia -- 1 South Africa -- 1 Spain -- 1 St. Kitts -- 1 Sweden -- 4 Switzerland -- 1 Turkey -- 1 UK -- 21 USA -- 289

-- Daily elimination percentages are as follows:

DAY ONE: 68 percent of the original starters in this tournament survived the first day / 32 percent were eliminated.

DAY TWO: 31 percent of the original starters survived the second day / 27 percent were eliminated from the start of day amount.

DAY THREE: 12 percent of the original starters survived the third day / 60 percent were eliminated from the start of day amount.

DAY FOUR: 6.2 percent of the original starters survived the fourth day / 48.2 percent were eliminated from the start of day amount

Female Participants in the 2009 Main Event

(Note: The WSOP recognizes that player characteristics such as gender, race, etc. do not warrant special mention. However, since many members of the media wish to know details about female participation and status, the staff is providing this information for media use.)

-- The number of female participants in this year's Main Event is estimated to be 187, which amounts to 2.8 percent of the field. There is no official record since entrants are not designated by their gender. However, it has been customary to count every player at the start of Day One and take an unofficial head-count of female players.

-- An estimated eight female players remain alive in the Main Event at the conclusion of Day 3 (precise number is not known, this is an estiamte). This list includes:

Kara Scott Tobin (UK)
Emma Grace (Australia)
Marla Schwartz (USA)
Kristy Gazes (USA)
Melanie Banfield (South Africa)
"Oklahoma" Sarah Hale (USA)
Denise Malloy (USA)
Christina Renz (USA)

Here are the highest-female finishers (by year) in the WSOP Main Event (Note: Only players who finished in-the-money were recorded):

No female cashed in the Main Event between the years 1970-1985.

1986 - Wendeen Eolis (25th)
1987 - None
1988 - None
1989 - None
1990 - None
1991 - None
1992 - None
1993 - Marsha Waggoner (19th)
1994 - Barbara Samuelson (10th)
1995 - Barbara Enright (5th)
1996 - Lucy Rokach (26th)
1997 - Marsha Waggoner (12th)
1998 - Susie Isaacs (10th)
1999 - None
2000 - Annie Duke (10th)
2001 - None
2002 - None
2003 - Annie Duke (47th)
2004 - Rose Richie (98th)
2005 - Tiffany Williamson (15th)
2006 - Sabyl Cohen-Landrum (56th)
2007 - Maria Ho (38th)
2008 - Tiffany Michelle (17th)

World Series of Poker Statistics --

The 2009 WSOP Main Event now ranks as the third-largest live poker tournament in history. Only the 2006 and 2008 Main Event championships drew larger numbers. It should be noted that if the Rio had greater seating capacity (Day 1-D sold out), this year's tournament would have unquestionably surpassed last year's attendance figures.

-- The total prize pool for this year's Main Event totals $61,043,600. However, this figure is not final. Since interest is added to payouts for players who will constitute the November Nine, the final figure will actually be slightly higher.

-- The number of female participants in this year's Main Event is estimated to be 187, which amounts to 2.8 percent of the field. There is no official record since entrants are not designated by sex. However, it has been customary in recent years to count every player at the start of Day One (actually all flights A-D) and take a head count of female players. Oddly enough, despite the low percentage of female players, there were three different tables with three females in the tournament.

-- All players who make it to the final table this year (the November Nine) will earn at least $1 million. The 2009 world champion will collect $8,546,435 for first place (plus slightly more money in added interest).

-- With registration for this year's Main Event, the World Series of Poker crossed the $1,000,000,000 threshold in total prize money awarded to players. During its 40-year history, the WSOP has paid out $1,041,265,271. Incredibly, more than $600,000,000 has been paid out just in the last five years alone, since Harrah's Entertainment assumed control of the tournament. Here is the historical prize pool information for the World Series of Poker.

2009 -- $174,011,894
2008 -- $180,774,427
2007 -- $159,796,918
2006 -- $159,599,815
1970-2005 -- $354,000,000

-- This is the 57th and final event on the 2009 WSOP schedule which is played in Las Vegas. Four more gold bracelet events will take place later this year in London, England at the Empire Casino, to be held from September 19th through October 1st.

-- Players have come to the WSOP from at least 115 different nations and territories. By contrast, only 80 nations were represented at the most recent Winter Olympic Games.

-- This marks the fifth consecutive year the WSOP has been held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. Prior to 2005, the WSOP was held at Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas. More money has been awarded to winners within the Rio during the past five years than during the entire proceeding 35-year period at the Horseshoe. This is a testament to the expansion of the WSOP since Harrah's Entertainment assumed ownership and control of the world most prestigious poker event.

New Records Set at the 2009 WSOP

MOST WSOP SELL OUTS

Ten tournaments reached maximum capacity at this year's WSOP. This is the most gold bracelet events ever to sell out within a single year. A complete "sell out" means every seat at every available table is sold and additional players are/were turned away at registration. Sell-outs are based on various numbers, which include the total tables and seats available for tournament use. Events which sold out this year included: 4, 7, 22, 24, 28, 29, 39, 43, 51, and 54. Note that the Main Event also partially sold out, since Day 1-D reached full capacity - which means 11 events reached the maximum, in part.

MOST MILLION-DOLLAR TOURNAMENTS IN HISTORY

This year's WSOP had more tournaments with more than $1 million in prize money than any other. There were 39 events out of 57 which crossed the million-dollar mark.

MOST TOURNAMENT ENTRANTS IN A SINGLE YEAR

The 2009 WSOP attracted 60,875 tournament entries overall. This mark eclipses the previous record set last year which was 58,720. These figures do not include WSOP-Europe.

FIRST NON-MAIN EVENT, NON-MEGA BUY-IN EVENT PRODUCES A $1 MILLION FIRST PRIZE

Every single gold bracelet winner won at least $165,000. Most winners won in excess of $300,000. However, for the first time ever - the winner of a non-Main Event/non-mega buy-in tournament won more than $1 million. Matthew Hawrilenko's victory in the $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em tournament (Event #56) netted him a cash prize totaling $1,003,218.

LARGEST NON-WSOP MAIN EVENT TOURNAMENT IN HISTORY - FIFTH-BIGGEST OVERALL

The $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em tournament (Event 4) is the largest non-WSOP Main Event tournament in poker history. The previous record was set at the 2008 WSOP when the first No-Limit Hold'em competition ($1,500 buy-in Event #2) attracted 3,929 entrants. The number of players in the $1,000 buy-in "Stimulus Special" - 6,012! - demolished the previous mark and represented a whopping 53 percent increase in attendance over the previous record many initially thought might not be broken for some time! Note: LARGEST WSOP EVENTS IN HISTORY: Here is a ranking of the six largest live poker tournaments in history:

8,773 players -- 2006 WSOP Main Event
6,844 players -- 2008 WSOP Main Event
6,358 players -- 2007 WSOP Main Event
6,494 players - 2009 WSOP Main Event
6,012 players -- 2009 WSOP Event 4

YOUNGEST FINAL TABLE IN HISTORY

The $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout (Event 41) was the youngest final table composition in WSOP history, with player ages ranging from 21 (youngest) to 24 (oldest).

SECOND-LONGEST FINAL TABLE IN POKER HISTORY

The $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. World Championship (Event 49) was the second-longest finale in poker history - both by time and number of hands: Longest WSOP Final Tables (Time Duration)

19 hours/9 minutes -- 2008 WSOP-Europe Championship
18 hours/44 minutes - 2009 H.O.R.S.E. Championship
16 hours (estimated) -- 2005 $1,500 Razz Championship
14 hours/30 minutes - 2005 WSOP Main Event
14 hours - 2006 H.O.R.S.E. Championship

Longest WSOP Final Tables (Number of Hands)

484 - 2008 WSOP-Europe Championship
480 - 2009 H.O.R.S.E. Championship
354 - 2006 H.O.R.S.E. Championship
341 - 2007 H.O.R.S.E. Championship
314 - 2008 H.O.R.S.E. Championship

(Note: Number of hands was not recorded for WSOP events prior to 2003)

FIRST-EVER BINION'S CUP ATTRACTS MOST FORMER WORLD CHAMPIONS EVER TO PLAY IN ONE EVENT

The winner of the inaugural "Binion's Cup Champions Invitational was designated "The Champion of Champions." The honors belongs to Atom McEvoy, the winner. It was the largest collection of WSOP current and former world champions ever in history. There were 19 former champions entered in last year's Main Event, but this tournament had twenty.

LARGEST SEVEN-CARD STUD HIGH-LOW SPLIT PRIZE IN HISTORY

Event 37 was the richest Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split prize pool in poker history at $1,541,600. It eclipsed last year's previous record by more than $300,000. This was only the second million-dollar prize pool ever for any Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split tournament.

LARGEST SENIORS POKER EVENT IN HISTORY

The Seniors Championship was the largest such event in poker history. The turnout of 2,707 this year shattered last year's record of 2,218 (then, a record high). The 2009 figure represents a 22 percent increase over 2008. Records were also smashed for largest prize pool and biggest cash prize ever paid in a seniors' poker event.

LARGEST OMAHA-HIGH LOW SPLIT TOURNAMENT IN HISTORY

This was the largest live Omaha High-Low Split tournament in history. The previous record was set at the 2008 WSOP when the same event attracted 833 players. The number of entrants this year - 918 - smashed the previous mark and represented a nine percent increase in attendance over the same tournament held last year.

LARGEST 2-7 LOWBALL TOURNAMENT IN HISTORY

Last year's event attracted 238 entries. Entries increased by 8 percent to 258 players in 2009. Event 55 was the largest Limit Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw Lowball tournament in poker history.

LARGEST POT-LIMIT OMAHA TOURNAMENT IN HISTORY

The $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha event (Event 5) attracted 809 entrants. This is the largest live Pot-Limit Omaha tournament in poker history.

LARGEST LIVE SIX-HANDED POKER TOURNAMENT IN HISTORY

Event #9 was the largest live Six-Handed tournament in history - with 1,459 players.

MOST CASHES IN WSOP HISTORY

Phil Hellmuth added to his status as the all-time leader in WSOP cashes, now with 74 career in-the-money finishes.

MOST CONSECUTIVE YEARS TO CASH AT WSOP

Berry Johnston's in-the-money finish in a gold bracelet tournament this year gives the 1986 World Champion cashes for 27 Straight WSOP Years -- the most in history.

MOST GOLD BRACELET WINS IN A SINGLE YEAR

Jeffrey Lisandro tied the mark for most wins in a single year, with three. He is the fifth player to accomplish this feat.

FIRST HUNGARIAN WSOP WINNER IN HISTORY

Peter Traply became the first Hungarian WSOP champion in history. The best previous finish by a Hungarian player was Richard Toth, who finished second in 2006.

IVEY MOVES INTO TIE FOR SIXTH-PLACE IN WSOP WINS

With his two victories this year, Phil Ivey joins Billy Baxter with seven WSOP titles, which ranks sixth on the all-time wins list. Still remaining ahead of Ivey are Phil Hellmuth (11 wins), Doyle Brunson (10 wins), Johnny Moss (10 wins), Johnny Moss (9 wins), and Erik Seidel (8 wins).