WSOP Main Event Smashes Record with 9350 Entries and Counting

The 2023 WSOP Main Event has smashed the previous record for number of entries, a staggering 9350 over four starting flights breaking the previous best of 8773 set in 2006, when Jamie Gold took down the biggest event in the poker calendar...and there is still time for more players to enter, the 10,000 mark now in serious danger…

There had been talk of a new record being set well in advance of this year’s event, with a poker boom seeing huge attendances at events all across the globe, including recent highroller events.

Last year’s Main Event came close, a monster field of 8,663 from which Espen Jorstad emerged as champion, but the record had stood since Jamie Gold topped the 2006 event. This year, Gold himself not only expected, but also wanted the record to be broken.

"I think a lot of people were still kind of concerned with COVID last year," Gold told PokerNews this week, explaining: "So, say 1,000 players stayed away because of COVID, if just half of them return to play the Main Event this year, that will break the record."

That line of reasoning seemed to be correct, as day 1a produced a 16% increase on last year’s numbers, while day 1b saw that increase to a 25% uptick in entries.

With everything pointing to a new record on its way, day 1c obliterated last year’s figures, and the record finally tumbled midway through day 1d, the comparisons with last year seen in the table below.

Unfortunately, the daily numbers for 2006 appear to have been lost in the mists of time, but what is known is just how dominant Gold’s performance was back in 2006, his bracelet run through the monster field seeing him hold the chip lead for the final five days.

• Day 1: 17th - Jamie Gold, 100,125 Chips
  
• Day 2: 95th - Jamie Gold, 155,400 Chips
  
• Day 3: 33rd - Jamie Gold, 387,000 Chips
  
• Day 4: 1st - Jamie Gold, 3,700,000 Chips
  
• Day 5: 1st - Jamie Gold, 7,330,000 Chips
  
• Day 6: 1st - Jamie Gold, 13,000,000 Chips
  
• Day 7: 1st - Jamie Gold, 25,650,000 Chips
  
• Day 8: 1st - Jamie Gold, 90,200,000 Chips (Winner)
  

It is very early days in the 2023 event, but we already know that some of the biggest names in poker have seen their chances of Main Event victory slip away:

Out

There were plenty more who bagged a stack for a day two appearance though, with numerous ex-champions in the mix, alongside some other legends of the game...

In

Whether any of these will go on to win it, or a new name will appear on the trophy, remains to be seen, but whoever bags the Main Event title will be a part of history in more ways than one after the record numbers this year.

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