While the official first event of the World Poker Tour in 2009 was the Spanish Open, many people felt the real inaugural event was the Bellagio Cup IV, held at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

This was the first televised WPT event of the 2009 season, and being in Las Vegas, the Mecca for poker players, it was sure to attract a lot of great poker talent.

WPT 2009 in Retrospect: The Bellagio Cup IV

And attract that talent it did. Despite a $15,000 buy in , 50 percent more than a typical World Poker Tour tournament, 446 players showed up to compete for the Bellagio Cup and earn a WPT bracelet.

This included many great players not only from the United States but from, Sweden, Brazil and all over the world.

The Bellagio Cup IV Highlights

The 446 entries created a prize pool of $6,489,300, and with all these great players, not every talented poker player was going to get a piece. Some of the players who did manage to get some of the Bellagio Cup IV pie included Thiago Nishijima of Brazil, coming hot off a final table appearance at the WPT Spanish Championship, who finished 21st, World Series of Poker final tablist and Internet sensation Hevad Khan who finished 25th, poker's first couple Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly, who cashed 80th and 49th, respectively, and long time great poker pro Ted Forrest, who finished 27th.

The Bellagio Cup IV Results

The final table, while not necessarily full of the most recognizable poke rnames, was packed with talent. It included four Americans, the Russian born Ralph Perry, who finished third at the 2002 main event of the World Series of Poker, successful pro Luke Staudenmaier, L.A. poker room staple John Phan, and young pro Gabriel Thaler.

However none of these gifted players would survive, as the final heads up battle came down to French pro David Benyamine and Internet phenom Michael "Sir Watts" Watson.

Eventually Watson, from Canada, won the day and collected the $1,673,770 first prize, while Benyamine had to settle for $840,295.