The World Series Of Poker Set a New Record Over The Weekend By Holding a Tournament With 22,374 Entries
Officially, WSOP Event #5 – the opening weekend event at this year’s WSOP – saw an incredible 22,374 official entrants participate, the most ever to play in one tournament in the history of live poker. The most players previously to enter any one poker tournament was at the 2006 WSOP, when the Main Event that year attracted 8,773 players. So, the 2015 WSOP Event #5 ‘Colossus’ now stands alone, obliterating the old record by a staggering 255%. (Actually there were 25,571 raw, paid entries for this event, but after no-shows, voids and players who survived a flight after buying into multiple ones, the final, official number came down. But the raw number was almost three times the previous single event record for a live poker tournament.)
The total prize pool for this event is $11,187,000, with the winner’s share worth $638,880. A record 2,241 will receive cash prizes for their participation, with the minimum prize set at $1,096 for 2241st place.
Since this event will go down in the history books, here’s a look at records set from this never-before achieved poker tournament:
- MOST ENTRANTS (Total) – 22,374
- LARGEST PRIZE POOL (Any live poker event under $5,000 buy-in) — $11,187,000
- LARGEST 1st PLACE PRIZE (For a $500 buy-in event) — $638,880
- BEST SINGLE-DAY ATTENDANCE EVER: Saturday, May 30 – 12,172 entries (May 29 becomes 2nd-largest all-time with 10,202) (Break last-year’s record set opening weekend for Event#8 Millionaire Maker 7,977 entries).
- MOST PLAYERS TO CASH: 2,241 (previous record, 2006 Main Event (873)
- LARGEST RE-ENTRY EVENT: 22,374 (Breaking Event #8 from 2014 WSOP, 7,977 entries)
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Hey, I guess poker isn’t dead after all. Because over the weekend out in Vegas they held the biggest live poker tournament of all time. Over 22 thousand entries (mind you, that doesn’t mean individual people- they held 4 starting flights so if you busted, you could re-enter the next starting flight). But still a huge, staggering number. Over 11 million dollar prize pool for a $565 entry tournament. Unheard of. But with a tournament this big of course comes some controversy. They are paying about 5.9% of the prizepool for first place. TINY. Usually first place is around 20% of the prizepool. It’s very, very, very rarely lower than 10%. This one- 5.9. When first place is the % of the alcohol content of a light beer, people are going to be pissed. But I get where they’re coming from. You have to think about it in terms of longevity of the game. The more people who make more money are more likely to come back. People who tell their friends “I finished in 1,000th place and made $3,000!” are more likely to come back next year and bring said friends with them. So while most professional players want huge money up top because you should be playing to win at all times, I get the smaller payout.
Another fun thing that happened over the weekend out in Vegas was over at the Aria. They held a $25k tournament to try to get some ballers to come play there instead of at the WSOP. Well, one guy signed up for Aria’s $125 tournament, accidentally got seated with the $25k people, and didn’t say a word. 7 hours later and after he had busted 3 well-known pros, they figured it out. Just a guy living the dream playing a 25k high roller tournament, and doing well at that. They ended up obviously kicking him out, but apparently he might be banned from Aria and other MGM properties for life now. And to that I say, fuck them. He figured it was worth the $24,875 chance that they wouldn’t figure it out. Even though it was pretty much literally impossible they wouldn’t figure it out because this is a casino we are talking about, I love that he took the gamble. That’s what Vegas is all about. And then he started owning the pros, which is awesome. He shouldn’t be penalized for a cashier’s mistake and just running with it. It’s Vegas baby! Go big or go home!
PS: I’m about thisclose to booking a flight to Vegas for this coming up weekend. I have fomo out the roof and more money in my bank account than I’ve ever had. I’ve been to Vegas with about 1k to my name (then the next week my grandfather died and I inherited a chunk of money woop woop), I think I need to go out there and play a little WSOP. And I’m still looking for someone with 10k and a dream to give me an entry to the Main Event. Think about it DraftKings!