The World Series of Poker Main Event entry record has been broken for the second consecutive year. The 10,112 entries squeaked past last year’s record by 71 players.
The number of players who showed up created the largest prize pool in the history of poker: $94,041,600.
Caesars Entertainment, the owner of the WSOP, grosses $7,078,400 for hosting the event two-week long event. That’s 7% — the WSOP gets 4.9%, while 2.1% is withheld for tournament dealers and staff.
That’s more than $1 million more than what the runner-up will be paid.
The winner will receive a special WSOP bracelet and $10 million. That’s $2.1 million less than what Dan Weinman made for winning last year’s Main Event because the WSOP flattened the payout chart this year. The top 1,517 will at least double their money, with those making the final table becoming millionaires:
- 1st: $10 million
- 2nd: $6 million
- 3rd: $4 million
- 4th: $3 million
- 5th: $2.5 million
- 6th: $2 million
- 7th: $1.5 million
- 8th: $1.25 million
- 9th: $1 million
It will be the third time the Main Event winner will receive exactly $10 million. Last year, the WSOP adjusted the payouts to make sure the record of $12 million, set in 2006 by 8,773 players, was broken by $100,000.
The difference from 10th place and first is a whooping $9.2 million.
The 2024 record was set thanks to 618 players entering the Main Event as the deadline to register clicked down yesterday.
Today, all the remaining 2,074 players will be in the casino for the first time. They will play to the final nine on Sunday July 14. Monday is a break day. The remaining nine will play down to four on Tuesday, with the winner being determined on Wednesday. (play begins at 1:30 p.m.)
Play is being broadcast by PokerGO, the subscription-based site. The schedule can be found here. CBS Sports will broadcast the Main Event sometime this fall.
The bracelet that the Main Event winner will get weighs 445 grams. The gold is worth about $2,358, but the 1,948 round genuine diamonds, 230 black onyx stones, and 75 genuine red rubies for each of the suits will bring the value up. Like last year, it features a removable golden face plate that can also serve as a card protector.
| Year | Champion | Entries | Prize Pool | Top Payout |
| 2024 | TBD | 10,112 | $94,041,600 | $10,000,000 |
| 2023 | Daniel Weinman | 10,043 | $93,399,900 | $12,100,000 |
| 2006 | Jamie Gold | 8,773 | $82,512,162 | $12,000,000 |
| 2022 | Espen Jorstad | 8,663 | $80,782,475 | $10,000,000 |
| 2019 | Hossein Ensan | 8,569 | $80,548,600 | $10,000,000 |
| 2018 | John Cynn | 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 | Pius Heinz | 6,865 | $64,531,000 | $8,715,638 |
| 2008 | Peter Eastgate | 6,844 | $64,333,600 | $9,152,416 |
