7,874 Players Turn Out For WSOP Main Event

Published on July 5th, 2018 5:05 pm EST

Poker might not be dead after all.

On Wednesday, 4,571 players turned out to play on Day 1C of the World Series of Poker main event. This crowd, which included the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius, produced the largest single Day 1 flight in World Series of Poker history.

The lines for registration were very long and the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino was swelling with players.

In total, this year's World Series of Poker main event ended up with a field of 7,874 players, which is the second largest in WSOP history. Only the 2006 main event, which was eventually won by Jamie Gold, had a bigger field (8,773 entrants).

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Shortly after the 2006 World Series of Poker main event took place, UIGEA was passed into law in the United States.

This single law created a tidal wave of change, as companies like Partypoker were forced to pull out of the US market. Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker elected to remain, which would set up "Black Friday" five years later.

It is quite amazing that the World Series of Poker main event field is now getting within striking distance of the 2006 mark.

With the recent Supreme Court ruling on sports betting in the United States, I would expect the main event record of 8,773 entrants to fall within the next couple of years. Many states will likely elect to offer sports betting to their residents, and this will likely lead to wide-spread legalization of online poker as well, as states look to offer a full package of online gaming options. This will result in much larger shared player pools for sites like WSOP.com, which will, in turn, result in more people winning World Series of Poker main event packages.

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The very strong turnout this year means that the eventual winner will take home a payday of $8.8 million. All of the final table participants will be guaranteed seven figure paydays, with an appearance at the final table worth a minimum of $1 million.

The top 1,182 spots will pay a minimum of $15,000.

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Filed Under: The World Series of Poker