Among the major storylines that came out of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event was the sellout of Day 1D. Over 500 players made the pilgrimage to the Rio in Las Vegas only to find themselves unable to register for the world’s most prestigious poker tournament. Among those left out in the cold were brand name pros like Poker Hall of Fame member T.J. Cloutier, five-time bracelet winner Ted Forrest, and World Poker Association Chairman “Captain” Tom Franklin. Joining them was PocketFiver Jacob wvumaniac2 Bucher, who headed to Las Vegas at the last minute on the direction of his backer. Bucher sat down with PocketFives.com to relive the experience, which left a sour taste in the mouths of many players.

One week before the start of the 2009 WSOP Main Event, Bucher’s friend and backer called him and told him to pack his belongings to head to Las Vegas for the prestigious event. In a plot similar to a Jerry Bruckheimer movie, Bucher flew from his home in West Virginia to Sin City. He told PocketFives.com, “I decided to play on Monday so I could still do 4th of July things over the weekend. I was at the Rio all day on Sunday railing friends, but there was no urgency by anyone that they would close registration. Plus, the banks were closed on Sunday, so the plan was to get the money on Monday morning.”
Day 1A of the Main Event occurred on Friday, July 3rd and attracted 1,116 players. Day 1B kicked off on Independence Day in the United States, which is normally celebrated with fireworks and food in households around the country. For 873 players, however, July 4th marked the beginning of the march towards becoming the next WSOP Main Event Champion and self-made poker millionaire. A total of 1,696 players hit the felts on Day 1C, setting up what many expected to be a packed house on Monday for Day 1D. At 12:08pm Pacific Time on Monday, PocketFives.com received an e-mail saying that Day 1D had officially sold out. In the end, 2,809 players entered.

Bucher arrived at the Rio at 9:30am on Monday and headed straight for registration. Bucher retraced his steps, saying, “We went to the customer service desk and they told us they had temporarily closed registration, but it should open up again soon.” Then, an uneasy waiting period occurred. During it, Bucher ran across WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack (pictured at left with Sasquatch, image courtesy of WSOP.com) who told the PocketFiver that his prospects of being part of Day 1D “weren’t looking good.” Bucher added, “At 11:00am or 11:30am, they sent a messenger to let us know that no one else would be getting in. Pollack or anyone else in charge wouldn’t talk to us. The players in line brought up several really good options for how to resolve the problem, but WSOP officials wouldn’t listen to any of it. I was pretty upset and shocked.”

One possible solution was to create a special Day 1E that would play out late in the day on Monday and funnel players into Day 1A. However, tournament officials had already turned players away and did not want to risk a public relations nightmare by opening registration back up. Bucher responded, “That’s why they sent the messenger. They were just wasting time so they could say that later. At least that’s how it looked.” Another solution was to play 10-handed. However, WSOP officials felt that it would not be fair to those in the field, as previous days were played nine-handed. Bucher told PocketFives.com that a friend who played on Day 1B battled 10-handed for a portion of the afternoon.

The final solution to the Day 1D dilemma was accepting alternates, but none had been taken up to that point in the 57 event series. Bucher commented, “I don’t see how that matters at all. The other events have always been capped and have hit capacity several times. This is the Main Event; I don’t see how you could turn people away at all.” Despite his experience in 2009, Bucher noted that he plans to return to Las Vegas next year for the feature tournament: “We don’t have a choice. It’s the Main Event, the most important $10K of the year.” Last year, Day 1A also fell on July 3rd. In 2007, the Main Event did not kick off until July 6th.

Bucher began his poker career during the televised poker boom and took to $0.10 and $0.20 cash games. He found online poker and admitted, “I never got halfway serious about it until I met Jason JAKoon1985 Koon (pictured at right). He was still playing small- and mid-stakes games and really pushed me to get better. Now, I’m playing mid-stakes and working with him to play full-time at some point.” Bucher finished third in the $24 buy-in $34,000 Guaranteed on Full Tilt Poker in May for $3,600.

Revisit the entire 2009 WSOP Main Event and learn who made the November Nine on PocketFivesLive.com.