37 of 74 Events Complete; Overall Entries Up Slightly, On Record Pace
Several Key Events Remain: Monster Stack (June 24-25) Crazy Eights (July 1-2), The Giant (June 23, 30, July 7), Main Event (July 8-10), Little One for One Drop (July 11-13), Plus Two Online Events (July 1 & 7)
LAS VEGAS (June 21, 2017) – Another year, another impressive showing at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. With 37 of 74 events accounted for, a record 61,616 entries have been tabulated, up slightly from 60,677 entries in a record-breaking 2016.
While not an apples to apples comparison due to the event schedule and dates changing annually, the 48th annual WSOP is up 1.5% thus far based on number of events, and tracking to exceed the all-time entries record in a year, set last year when 107,833 participated in the tournament series that dates back to 1970.
With 37 official WSOP gold bracelet events remaining, the 48th Annual WSOP is on pace to potentially surpass last year as the largest in terms of participation in the series’ storied 48-year history.
Thus far in 2017, the average entries per official WSOP gold bracelet event are 1,665.
Players from 97 countries have already participated in events this WSOP, one fewer than seen at this point last year.
In terms of prize money awarded, the 37 official WSOP gold bracelet events have awarded $81,480,871. On an event basis, the average prize pool is $2,202,185.
“Players continue to respond favorably to our diverse offerings and industry-leading prize pools,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. “We believe we’ve found the right mix of price points and game variants to make a trip to the Rio in Las Vegas a must annually for anyone who loves the game of poker. There’s still plenty of time this year too, as we still have a month of World Series of Poker play remaining with bracelet event buy-ins as low as $365.”
A record 9,254 participants have received prize money this year (through 37 events), proving the formula awarding 15% of entrants a payout is succeeding.
In terms of participants, the Top 5 countries are U.S. (51,311), Canada (2,191), United Kingdom (1,753), France (553) and Australia (496). International players represent 10,305 entries. All 50 U.S. states have shown up, with California (10,593), Nevada (7,172), Florida (4,090), Texas (3,787) and New York (2,402) the Top 5 in terms of entries thus far.
To date in WSOP gold bracelet events, 78 different countries have cashed with the U.S., Canada, France, United Kingdom, and Italy in the Top 5. For more on how players are doing based on their nationality, please see our World Rankings for 2017 here: http://www.wsop.com/2017/worldrankings/
The WSOP gold bracelet tally shows the U.S. players dominating, winning 26 of the first 37 events, with Russia and the United Kingdom with two each.
Poker of course attracts participants of all ages. The 2017 WSOP has seen those as young as 21 and as old as 94. The average age of entrants is 42.99. Males account for 58,672 of entries (95.22%) with females at 2,944 entries.
In terms of individuals, 24,281 unique individuals have played in at least one WSOP gold bracelet event thus far. The top 5 individual participants have entered 47, 42, 34, 32 and 32 times in the first 37 events. (Note: With re-entry in some events, these totals reflect total times entered).
The WSOP Player of the Year race is far from over with just 37 of 81 events tabulated. Australia’s James Obst the current leader, has won one WSOP gold bracelet, cashed six times with a 2nd, 7th and 8th place finish on his 2017 WSOP resume thus far. The Top 100 WSOP POY leaders can be seen here: http://www.wsop.com/2017/poy/
For more stats on the 2017 WSOP, please visit: http://www.wsop.com/players/stats/byyear/?y=2017
A couple of tournament records have fallen as well this year. Event #18, the $565 Pot-Limit Omaha event, became the largest field size by entries for any non-Hold’em live event in poker history. 3,186 entered this event.
This year’s Seniors Event, Event #31, open to anyone aged 50 years or older, also set two records. Both the most unique number of entries, 4,542 who entered this event, and the total entry number of 5,389 were the most ever in this long-running WSOP event.
In addition to the fantastic tournament action, live action game activity has been plentiful as well, with as many as 80 tables running simultaneously, including plenty of high stakes action in the new King’s Lounge. WSOP Live-Action (@WSOPLiveAction) is spreading a wide variety of games at stakes from $1-$3 NL, all the way up to the highest limit players are interested in playing.
The 2017 WSOP has exactly one month remaining, and among the highlights left on the schedule is as follows:
• Thursday, June 22 – Event #43 – $1,500 Shootout No-Limit Hold’em – 11am
• Friday, June 23 – Event #45 – $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em – 30 minute levels (2-day event) – 11am
• Friday, June 23 – Event #19C – $365 Giant No-Limit Hold’em – 7pm
• Saturday, June 24/Sunday, June 25 – Event #47A/B – $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold’em – 10am
• Monday, June 26 – Event #50 – $1,500 buy-in Bounty No-Limit Hold’em – 11am
• Wednesday June 28 – Event #54 – $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha Championship – 11am
• Saturday, July 1 – Event #60A/B – $888 buy-in Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold’em ($888,888 1st place prize) – 10am & 4pm flights
• Saturday, July 1 – Event #61 – WSOP.com $3,333 High Roller (played online) – one-day event – 3:33pm
• Saturday, July 1 – Event #19D – $365 buy-in Giant No-Limit Hold’em – 7pm
• Sunday, July 2 – Event #60C/D – $888 buy-in Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold’em ($888,888 1st place prize) – 10am & 4pm flights
• Sunday, July 2 – Event #62 – $50,000 buy-in Poker Players’ Championship 6-Handed – 3pm
• Tuesday, July 4 – Event #65 – $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em (30 minute levels; two-day event) – 11am
• Wednesday, July 5 – Event #67 – $25,000 buy-in High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed (4-day event) – 3pm
• Friday, July 7 – Event #70 – $10,000 buy-in Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship (Ladies receive 90% discount) – 11am
• Friday, July 7 – Event #71 – $1,000 buy-in WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold’em – 2pm
• Friday, July 7 – Event #19E – $365 buy-in Giant No-Limit Hold’em (final starting flight) – 7pm
• Sat. July 8/Sun. July 9/Mon. July 10 – Event #73 – $10,000 buy-in Main Event Championship (3 starting flights) – 11am each day.
• Tues. July 11/Wed. July 12/Thurs. July 13 – Event #74A/B/C – $1000 buy-in Little One for ONE DROP ($111 add-on to double starting chip stack) – All $111 would go to ONE DROP as charitable donation – 3pm
ABOUT THE WSOP
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world awarding millions of dollars in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport’s top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970. In 2016, the event attracted 107,833 entrants from 107 different countries to the Rio in Las Vegas and awarded over $221 million in prize money. In addition, the WSOP has formed groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent in 2007 of the World Series of Poker Europe. For more information on the World Series of Poker, please visit www.WSOP.com.
