Day 1a is in the books, officially kicking off another WSOP Main Event. The buzz this year is about whether or not the record number of entries will finally be broken. This record was set back in 2006 when Jamie Gold bested 8,772 other entries to take home $12 million and the coveted WSOP bracelet. We came close last year but could only manage 8,663 entries in the end.
Record Breaking Attendances
One thing that points to a record-breaking WSOP Main Event is the significant increase in attendance across the other events in the series. Almost all events are up on last year’s attendance, with some up a significant amount year on year. Whether it’s a big field or small field event, we’re seeing more and more people come to the WSOP and put their money on the line.
Let’s focus on the big field events in particular, as that will likely be a more accurate reflection of the Main Event’s increase:
$800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack - 4062 > 4747
$1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em - 1774 > 2046
$1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold'em - 6501 > 8317
$1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship - 7188 > 8180
$1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em - 7961 > 10,416
As you can see, all of these big field events are up significantly over last year, with many seeing a 10-20% increase on the previous year. If the Main Event carries on in the same vein, we could be seeing close to 10,000 entrants this year!
Big Names Dominating
The big story from Day 1a of the Main Event was the domination of the big names in the field. We had four former Main Event champions in Day 1a; Martin Jacobson, Joe Cada, Damian Salas, and Jamie Gold, who gave the “shuffle up and deal” announcement at the start of the day. All four of the Main Event champs made it through to Day 2, as well as big names such as Dominik Nitsche, Shaun Deeb, John Hennigan, Faraz Jaka, and Billy Baxter.
One of the biggest names at the top of the chip counts was Doug Polk who ended the day 4th in chips after a dramatic start to his day. As he shares in this interview, he was involved in a car accident on his way to the Main Event. Luckily, he and the other person involved were unharmed and able to walk away from the accident.
Talk about running bad before you even sit down!
How many entrants do you think we’ll have at this year’s WSOP Main Event? Will this be the year we finally break the record? Stay tuned for all the latest WSOP news and events.
