A major concern at the start of last week's 2009 World Series of Poker was the potential impact of the poor economy on the player field.

It was safe to assume that there weren't a lot of people running around with a few extra thousand in their bank accounts that could be allocated to poker tournaments. It's admittedly a bad investment when the odds dictate only two out of every 10 in the field will make it to the money.

But apparently, things may not be that bad.

Last week's $40,000 buy-in, no-limit event had 201 players registered, which created a $7.7 million prize pool. It was the richest tournament outside of the Main Event in poker history.

The tournament should make good television, as it was played in front of the ESPN cameras and is scheduled to air next month.

2004 Main Event champion Greg Raymer nearly won it, which would have been an astonishing feat. Raymer could have been the first player in World Series history with two cashes of more than $1 million, but he finished third (cashing for $774,927) when his pocket fives ran into pocket nines and failed to improve.

Russian player Vitaly Lunkin won the event and claimed a monster check of $1,891,012 for doing so, and runner-up Isaac Haxton was made an instant millionaire, too ($1,168,566).

Dubbed the “Stimulus Special,” the $1,000 buy-in, no-limit Hold 'Em event had 6,012 players take advantage of the most affordable tournament of the Series. Demand was so high that opening-day play had to be split into two days — another Series first outside of the Main Event.

A record was set for an Omaha tournament when 918 players entered the $1,500 Omaha eight-or-better tournament, breaking the previous high of 833.

It will be interesting to see if those trends can hold up as the Series enters into its full grind and the novelty of its start has worn down a tad.

Online poker debate: U.S. News and World Report posted a forum on its Web site where U.S. Reps Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., debate the topic of legalizing online gambling operations.

Frank enjoys a lofty perch as the chairman of the Financial Services Committee and has been a huge supporter of the industry for years.

In support of his stance, Frank posted: “There is one major reason that leads me to oppose the ban on Internet gambling: It is an activity that adult Americans enjoy and that does no conceivable harm to anybody else.”