Last year’s WSOP set numerous records such as the most money given out combined at $180 million and the most participants ever at well over 50,000 people. But that was last year when the recession hadn’t hit America as hard and we were only in a mild freefall at the point. And you can say what you want about how there is a much larger amount of international players in the WSOP today, but the truth is that it’s mostly comprised of Americans.
Seeing as how this is the case and we may be at the bottom point of the recession (possibly depression), it begs the questions of whether the World Series of Poker will be severely affected by the United States’ economic downturn. However, despite many other industries having trouble during this time, WSOP officials don’t think the recession will negatively affect the 2009 WSOP.
WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack has stated that the WSOP will run as scheduled and they won’t let economics disrupt what they have going. He said, “We’re aware of what is happening with the global economy and we’re sensitive to it. We have an obligation to create an annual festival and improve every aspect of the tournament that we can. We have to ensure that whoever shows up is given the best possible experience.”
Pollack continued by saying, “We could have planned to have a recession World Series of Poker and cut back, but we didn’t think that was the right thing to do. That wouldn’t best serve our players.” So for those wondering like I am, the recession won’t affect the WSOP - at least from a scheduled events standpoint. But as to whether or not it affects the turnout of the event is a question that is still waiting to be answered.