Over $1 Billion in Total Prize Money Awarded by World Series of Poker
Posted by: admin : Category: poker news
Tue, Jul 7th, 2009 @ 12:00am
The World Series of Poker officially crossed the $1 billion mark in prize money awarded since it began in 1970, a most impressive milestone. The WSOP, the most prestigious poker tournament in the world, is celebrating its 40th annual event this year. Official 2009 tournament figures will be released later today Tuesday, July 7, after the close of Main Event registration, but running tallies confirm the landmark."It's nice to reach this milestone during the 40th annual WSOP," said World Series of Poker President and 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."Registration sold out yeterday, Day 1D, for the last day to sign up for the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship (commonly referred to as the Main Event). WSOP had to turn away around 500 players, the event was so over subscribed. The 40th annual WSOP already has had a remarkable summer despite the global recession. For the fourth consecutive year, the total WSOP prize pool will exceed $155 million — compared with a total of $354 million in prize money awarded during the WSOP's first 36 years.The WSOP is the world's richest competitive event- just look at these other prominent events in comparison:The Daytona 500 has awarded its winners some $21,327,256 since 1959. In just the past three years, WSOP Main Event champions have received $29,402,416.Wimbledon awarded a total of GBP 12,550,000, or roughly $20.5 million, in 2009, less than a quarter of what the WSOP will award this year.The Kentucky Derby has paid its winners a total of approximately $16.7 million since 2001 — less than the nearly $17.5 million taken home by the 2007 and 2008 WSOP Main Event champions. Here is the historical prize pool information for the World Series of Poker.2009– TBD.2008 - $180,774,4272007 - $159,796,9182006 - $159,599,8151970-2005 - $354,000,000For more info on the WSOP, click here to view WSOP results, reports, gallery photos, articles and much more- since 2000, when PokerPages first began live coverage of the WSOP!