2009 was the 40th WSOP, the tournament started with a special $40,000 No-Limit event. As one of the most expensive poker tournaments ever, the event attracted what considered to be one of the toughest poker fields ever assembled. Poker pro, Vitaly Lunkin, won his second bracelet in this event. Lunkin then finished in second place at the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha event and the $50,000 HORSE Championship, finishing the summer with over $2.7 million. David Bach, a player with several final table appearances, won his first bracelet in the $50,000 HORSE Championship. At 18 hours and 44 minutes the final table of the $50K HORSE event was the second longest final table in WSOP history. Jeff Lisandro became the fifth player to ever win three bracelets in the same year, and the first ever to win bracelets in all three stud variants offered at the WSOP (stud high-only, stud high-low, and Razz) in the same year. Poker superstar Barry Greenstein, said that "A lot of people might have said before this year, we may not ever see another guy win three bracelets because the fields are so big... Lisandro proved them wrong." He was the first player to do so since Phil Ivey did it in 2002. By winning two bracelets, Ivey, considered by many to be the best overall poker player in the world, became the youngest player to ever amass seven WSOP bracelets. The milestone means he is tied with Poker Hall of Famer Billy Baxter at sixth place on the most bracelets list. Due to capacity limitations, the 2009 WSOP turned away over 500 players from the Main Event. Patrik Antonius, T. J. Cloutier, Layne Flack, Ted Forrest, Brandon Adams, Richard Ashby, and Mickey Appleman were among the notable players turned away from the Main Event. 1996 WSOP champion Huck Seed would have been included in that list, if he had not won the National Heads-Up Poker Championship which meant he was guaranteed entry into the 2009 WSOP Main Event. Another tournament which met its capacity limits was the "$1,000 buy-in Stimulus Special." This event set a new record for a non-main event tournament with 6,012 participants. Results Key Event 1: $500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold'em 2-Day Event: Wednesday, May 27 to Thursday, May 28 Number of buy-ins: 866 Total prize pool: $389,700 Number of payouts: 81 Winning hand: Reference: Event 2: $40,000 No Limit Hold'em 4-Day