The largest World Series of Poker main event in history breaks the record with 10,043 entrants
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2023 World Series of Poker The $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event is officially the largest ever.
With 10,043 total players, this year’s World Championship attracted 1,270 more entrants than the previous record 8,773 entrants in 2006, an increase of 14.5%. Thanks to the sea of players who flocked to Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas for this tournament, the prize pool has soared to a record $93,399,900. That sum is expected to be distributed among the top 1,507 finishers this year, with the minimum cash once again worth $15,000.
The eventual champion of this historic event will receive $12,100,000 to go with WSOP championship bracelet. It will be the largest first prize ever paid out in the main event, surpassing the $12,000,000 earned by 2006 world champion Jamie Gold.
The grand prize this year alone will surpass the previous record by $100,000, even though this year’s prize pool is nearly $10.9 million higher than it was in 2006. That’s due to the top 15 percent of the field that went at a premium this year compared to the 10 percent who did then.
This will be the fifth time a WSOP the main event champion earned an eight-figure payday, with this year’s winner joining Gold ($12,000,000), defending champion Espen Jorstad ($10,000,000), champion 2019 winner Hossein Ensan ($10,000,000) and 2014 winner Martin Jacobson ($10,000,000).
The top eight finishers will all be set to earn seven-figure paydays, with the second-place finisher taking home $6.5 million and the third-place finisher earning $4 million. The final five will all be multi-millionaires thanks to their successes in this tournament. A full list of payouts will be available on the event payout page shortly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt-o7-NyaE
Late registration was open until the start of level 8 on day 2D. A total of 507 entries were made on the final day to see the total cross the 10,000 mark. As of the start of the day, 9,536 entries were made during the initial four flights on Day 1 and Day 2ABC.
Below is a breakdown of the number of entries made into this record-breaking event, per flight:
Day 1A – 1.037
Day 1B – 1.115
Day 1C – 3.075
Day 1D – 4.113
Day 2ABC – 196
Day 2D – 507
Here’s a look at the ten biggest WSOP all-time major events (by industry):
| Year | Sample | Entries | Jackpot | Best payment |
| 2023 | to be defined | 10.043 | $93,399,900 | $12,100,000 |
| 2006 | Jaime Gold | 8,773 | $82,512,162 | $12,000,000 |
| 2022 | Espen Jorstdad | 8,663 | $80,782,475 | $10,000,000 |
| 2019 | Hossein Ensan | 8,569 | $80,548,600 | $10,000,000 |
| 2018 | John Cinn | 7,874 | $74,015,600 | $8,800,000 |
| 2010 | Jonathan Duhamel | 7,319 | $68,798,600 | $8,944,310 |
| 2017 | Scott Blumstein | 7,221 | $67,877,400 | $8,150,000 |
| 2011 | Pio Heinz | 6,865 | $64,531,000 | $8,715,638 |
| 2008 | Peter Eastgate | 6,844 | $64,333,600 | $9,152,416 |
| 2016 | Here Nguyen | 6,737 | $63,327,800 | $8,005,310 |
Visit the Card Player 2023 World Series of Poker page for schedules, news, interviews, and the latest results from the event. WSOP coverage sponsored by Global Poker.
