2009 WSOP Main Event - Phil Ivey and Joe Cada

The biggest poker tournament in the world is about to conclude with the 2009 World Series of Poker* main event being held on November 7th 2009 from the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. A total of 6,494 entries from seven different countries each paid the $10,000 buy-in to create a $61 million dollar prize pool with $8.5 million going to the winner. The “November Nine” (final table players) as they have become to be known; consist of Darvin Moon, Eric Buchman, Steven Begleiter, Jeff Shulman, Joe Cada, Kevin Schaffel, Antoine, Saout, James Akenhead and our favorite - Phil Ivey.

At only 32 years old, Phil Ivey has total tournament winnings over $9.5 million with 18 first place finishes, not to mention 7 WSOP bracelets. However, Ivey does not hold a main event bracelet and looks to put an end to that in November. "If I won, it would be great, but if I don't, I still think I've done pretty well in the World Series. I still want a W, of course. Anything less than winning, I'm not going to be happy," said Ivey. Play for your share of Phil Ivey’s main event winnings at Full Tilt poker along with daily cash drawings and Freeroll entries.

Ivey will be challenged by another youngster at the table, up and coming Joe Cada from Detroit, Michigan. Since he was 18 years old, Cada has been tearing up online poker rooms like Full Tilt poker on his way to possibly winning the biggest tournament of his life. In 2008, Cada won the $750,000 guaranteed in January taking home $147,500 for his efforts and the Sunday Mulligan in October for $49,600 playing online poker at Full Tilt. A millionaire by the age of 21, Cada has lifetime tournament winnings of $525,904 with 23 career cashes and is 281st in the 2009 OPOY ranks.

Cada’s rise to fame he credits to the ability of listening to other experienced online poker players. "I went to the online training sites and they have a lot of great players in them and hearing their thoughts about certain hands and analysis on hands and watching those hands helps tremendously,” Casa said. “Using their advice and going through certain situations helped a lot and helped to improve my game." The ESPN poker schedule for the finals of the main event begins on November 3rd with Day 8 airing at 9pm EST and the final table being shown on November 10th at 9pm EST.

2009 WSOP Main Event Chip Counts

Darvin Moon, 45, of Maryland - 58,930,000
Eric Buchman, 28, of New York - 34,800,000
Steven Begleiter, 47, of New York - 29,885,000
Jeff Shulman, 34, of Las Vegas - 19,580,000
Joseph Cada, 21, of Michigan - 13,215,000
Kevin Schaffel, 51, of Florida - 12,390,000
Phil Ivey, 33, of Las Vegas - 9,765,000
Antoine Saout, 25, of France - 9,500,000
James Akenhead, 26, of England - 6,800,000

2009 WSOP Main Event Payouts

1st place: $8,546,435
2nd place: $5,182,601
3rd place: $3,479,485
4th place: $2,502,787
5th place: $1,953,395
6th place: $1,587,133
7th place: $1,404,002
8th place: $1,300,228
9th place: $1,263,602

*WORLD SERIES OF POKER and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah's License Company, LLC ("Harrah's"). Harrah's does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with FullTiltPoker.com, VegasSports-Odds.com or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.