LAS VEGAS (July 7) -- The 6,494 players competing at the World Series of Poker main event are eyeing a piece of a $61 million prize pool and hoping for $8.55 million for the title.
Tournament director Jack Effel said after six hours of play of Monday that the top 648 players will win at least $21,365 in the no-limit Texas Hold 'em tournament.
Former champion Jamie Gold pauses between hands on the third start day of the World Series of Poker at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Sunday, July 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
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Dennis Phillips plays a hand on the third start day of the World Series of Poker at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Sunday, July 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
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Professional player Scotty Nguyen plays a hand on the third start day of the World Series of Poker at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Sunday, July 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
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Professional player Phil Hellmuth arrives at his table during the World Series of Poker at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on the third start day of the tournament on Sunday, July 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
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Professional player Phil Hellmuth waves to fans as he is carried into the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on the third day of the World Series of Poker on Sunday, July 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
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Professional player Phil Hellmuth makes a grand entrance into the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on the third start day of the World Series of Poker on Sunday, July 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
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Professional player Phil Hellmuth walks into a throng of fans at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on the third start day of the World Series of Poker on Sunday, July 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
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Andy Fields of the United Kingdom pauses during a hand on the third day of the World Series of Poker at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Friday, July 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
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LAS VEGAS - JULY 3: Actor Jason Alexander plays in the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas hold'em on the first day of the 40th Annual World Series of Poker main event at the Rio Las Vegas on Friday, July 03, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Brian Jones/Las Vegas News Bureau via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jason Alexander
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LAS VEGAS - JULY 3: Actress Jennifer Tilly plays in the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas hold'em on the first day of the 40th Annual World Series of Poker main event at the Rio Las Vegas on Friday, July 03, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Brian Jones/Las Vegas News Bureau via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jennifer Tilly
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While the top 10 percent of the field will make money on their $10,000 buy-in, the top nine finishers will be millionaires.
Each of the nine players at the final table will take home $1.26 million on July 16 - ninth place money - when the tournament will break for four months before finishing in November.
The funds will be placed in an account that will accrue interest before the tournament ends, giving the top eight finishers slightly more money.
The players are not expected to reach the money until at least Friday, when all players in the tournament will play simultaneously for the first time.
This year's field has 350 fewer players than last year, though more than 500 angry players were turned away Monday because of space.
"We are sorry, and I am sorry," said Jeffrey Pollack, World Series of Poker commissioner. "The last thing that we ever want to do is deny people entry into our events.''
Pollack and other series officials faced the rejected players in a hastily called meeting to explain why they would not be allowed to play.
Among those rejected were some big-name professional poker players, including Patrik Antonius, five-time gold bracelet winner Ted Forrest and six-time gold bracelet winner T.J. Cloutier.
Hundreds of hopefuls waited in the hallways at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to see if they could get into the tournament, which had plenty of seats available during its first three opening days.
On Monday, 2,809 players entered the tournament as officials packed tables into three modified conference rooms and lined 13 tables outside a seafood restaurant at the casino.
Had all the rejected players been accommodated, the tournament likely would have eclipsed its total entries from last year, when Peter Eastgate won $9.15 million for beating 6,843 others in the tournament.
An added 500 players to the tournament would have meant an extra $4.9 million for the total prize pool.
On Monday, the series went over $1 billion in total prize pool money for its 40-year history. Two-thirds of that sum has come in the past four years.
"Poker is alive and well," Pollack said.
Tournament officials warned Sunday that they expected the event to sell out on Monday, but many players complained anyway that their trips - and chances at the $8.55 million crown - had been ruined.
"Doyle Brunson always said the saddest day of the year is getting knocked out of the main event of the world series," said Tyler Meierotto, a 39-year-old jeweler from Kansas City, Mo. "The saddest day of the year for me is not being able to play in the main event of the world series.''
"You look so forward to it as a player and for them to say that you can't play is just awful," he said.
Tournament officials considered several options to accommodate more players but ultimately decided that no solution would have been fair to everyone playing in the tournament and those who were rejected.
"We're disappointed about this," said Pollack, who vowed that the issue would be his top priority heading into next year's World Series of Poker. "I wish that we could accommodate you, but we can't.''
Matt Clark, a spokesman for online poker site PokerStars, said employees of the site knocked on hotel room doors and left notes, sent e-mails and called players on Sunday to urge them to enter the tournament early.
The site paid entry fees for roughly 1,100 players in the tournament, including satellite tournament winners, professional poker players and celebrities. Clark said five of its players were rejected on Monday.
"We pretty much did everything we could to make sure people were bought in," Clark said.
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