In its 40th year of existence, the WSOP has just officially crossed the $1,000,000,000 mark for total prize money awarded. That's one billion dollars, in case you're having trouble counting zeros. Though the complete numbers for this year's prize pool are still in the works, running tallies from today's entries confirm the milestone.
"It’s nice to reach this milestone during the 40th annual WSOP," said Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. "What’s most remarkable is that nearly two-thirds of this amount has been awarded in just the last four years. Poker is alive and well and here to stay."
For the fourth consecutive year, the total prize pool for 2009 will eclipse $155,000,000, making this far and away the most lucrative sporting event in the world. For the sake of comparison:
- Since 1959, the Daytona 500 has awarded $21,327,256 in prize money. Over the last three years, the Main Event champions at the WSOP have earned a combined $29,402,416
- Wimbledon has just finished up for 2009, paying out about $20,500,000 to its participants. That's less than one quarter of the total WSOP prize pool this year.
- Since 2001, the Kentucky Derby has paid its winners a total of about $16,700,000. The last two Main Event champions have earned a combined $17,369,517.
Our sincere congratulations go out to the WSOP and the entire staff over the past forty years for making this the premier gaming event in the world.
and after his opponent checked, Cantu fired out 625. The player made the call.
and both players checked. The river fell the 
and Cantu's opponent checked. Cantu fired a bet and his opponent folded, moving Cantu up to 32,000.
held up against 
, but he earned $100 worth of Jack Link's beef jerky for making quad jacks on the 
board. Ship the beef nuggets!
, Maya Gellar was faced with a bet of 4,500 from her opponent after she had checked. She ended up making the call. Her opponent showed her 
to scoop the pot.
. One opponent called the bet. Both players checked the 
, Mercier fired 1,500 chips into the middle. When she was called, she opened 
. That was enough to collect the pot.
. The small blind folded and Nguyen check-raised to 3,500, stealing the pot.
, and Jamshidi checked again with grander intentions. Lisandro bet 1,100, and Jamshidi made it 3,000 straight. When Lisandro reraised to 13,000, Jamshidi moved all in and was quickly called.
on the river was a blank though, giving Lisandro the double up.
board. Watkinson produced 
