One More Sleep Until WSOP

The biggest event on the world poker calendar gets under way this Wednesday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The event which dates back to 1970, and which has in recent time captured the imaginations of would-be poker players the world over with its massive prizes and colorful participants kicks of this week and culminates in November with the main event showdown.

In all, the event will see 57 gold bracelets up for grabs in a series of different tournaments catering to all popular poker variations. Among the early tournaments is the $40,000 buy-in No Limit event added this year to commemorate the events 40th year.

There will also be a champions invitational event exclusively for past main event bracelet winners, and '89 champion Phil Helmuth has emerged as favorite to win this event.

The main event - the $10,000 buy-in World Championship gets underway on Friday, 3 July and pauses on 15 July when the final table is decided. We then have to wait until November 7 when the 'November 9' resume play and decide the world champion of poker before a television audience in the tens of millions courtesy of live ESPN coverage of the event.

Last year's event saw almost 60,000 entrants and a total prize pool of approximately $180,000,000 up for grabs. The main event, and $9 million 1st prize was won by Peter Eastgate of Denmark. All but one player reaching the final table took home over $1 million for their efforts.

Favorites to take out the 2009 main event include Phil Helmuth, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Joe Hachem, Peter Eastgate, and Huck Seed

The tournament will be held at the WSOP traditional home, Harrah's Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Good luck to this year's participants.