The 2009 WSOP is beginning to air on ESPN. Here’s Bloomberg:

Salient points:

• 2008 had $180 million in prizes (this year’s did turn out bigger).
• The WSOP has the largest purses for any event in “sports”.
• This year they didn’t televise the $50k HORSE — the event which determines the best all-around player in the world — because it’s too complicated for the n00bs viewing public.
• All of the people on Bloomberg’s money list are previous main event winners — if you win that one tournament you rocket to the top of lifetime earners lists, and that doesn’t include sponsorships. Supposedly if you’re wearing a Full Tilt hat when you take down the main event that’s good for another $10 million.

The final table of the $10k NLHE main event will be televised live in November. I’ll have to have a party or something…

I’m a slightly-winning player. At some point my bankroll will be strong enough to play WSOP events (probably starting with the cheapest [~$1,000] events — needs about a $20k roll).

Anyway, this year’s coverage starts with the $40,000 NLHE — should be an interesting event because higher buy-ins tend to attract a higher percentage of pros.