Phil Hellmuth, Phil Gordon, Annie Duke, Greg Raymer, Mark Seif, Joe Navarro and Sam Chauhan Among Instructors Who Will Prepare Participants for the 2009 WSOP Main Event

LAS VEGAS - Poker players from around the world will soon descend on Las Vegas for the chance to strike it rich at the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, and there to improve their odds will be the World Series of Poker Academy, which is hosting its Main Event Primer this June 29 - July 1 at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

Designed specifically to prepare players for the enormous fields in major tournaments like the WSOP Main Event, the WSOP Academy's Main Event Primer features the most advanced curriculum on No-Limit Hold'em tournament strategy taught by a dream team roster of poker pros, including past WSOP Main Event champions Phil Hellmuth and Greg Raymer, WSOP bracelet winners Annie Duke and Mark Seif, WPT title winner Phil Gordon, poker tells expert Joe Navarro, noted poker pro and instructor Alex Outhred and many, many more.

"Like the WSOP Main Event itself, our Main Event Primer only comes around once a year and is unrivaled in its level of instruction as well as the interaction participants have with the biggest names in poker," said Brandon Rosen of Post Oak Productions, the company that produces the WSOP Academy. "It truly is a unique opportunity to learn optimal strategy from the pros who have won it all."

During the Main Event Primer, instructors will lead participants through three days of advanced seminars with questions and answers, video analysis of WSOP tournament footage, live hand demonstrations and private multi-table tournaments. The focus of the curriculum will be on advance concepts of No-Limit Texas Hold 'em tournament strategy, including the advanced math of poker, advanced tournament stage strategy, pre-flop and post-flop strategy, table dynamics, intimidation and control of your opponents and heads-up strategy. Instructors will also talk specifically about tournament preparation for the Main Event and tips on qualifying via satellites.

Additionally, noted author and lecturer Joe Navarro will present an advanced poker tells seminar on decoding poker tells. After 25 years with the FBI working in the areas of counterintelligence and counterterrorism, Navarro has become one of the foremost authorities on reading the nonverbal communications that people exhibit when they are lying.

Beyond just delivering the best in poker instruction, the WSOP Academy Main Event Primer will also offer a total-immersion poker experience that gives participants the opportunity to hang out and play poker with many of the biggest names in the game and compete in two private poker tournaments. The winner of each will go on to compete for a World Series Of Poker Main Event seat at the WSOP Academy Tournament of Champions, held on the evening of July 1.

The WSOP Academy Main Event Primer is one of a number of groundbreaking instructional programs presented by the WSOP Academy throughout the year that feature instruction from the best players in the game, including Greg Raymer, Mark Seif and Annie Duke. From sessions that focus on No-Limit Texas Hold ‘em to special editions like the WSOP Academy’s Ladies Only Event and Cash Game Academy, the WSOP Academy offers amateur poker players of all skill levels the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn directly from the champions of the game and become champions themselves.

The cost of the WSOP Academy Main Event Primer is $2,499. Space is limited, and the event is expected sell out. Additional details for the Main Event Primer and all other Academy events are available at 
www.wsopacademy.com.