Despite the impact of the pandemic, thousands of players entered the WSOP Main Event this year. Besides the WSOP bracelet, a hefty $8 million prize awaits the winner of the tournament.
WSOP Main Event Attracts 6,650 Entries
Last year, the global COVID-19 pandemic disrupted traveling and sports events around the globe. The number of visitors at hotels and casinos plummeted as well as their revenues. In-person poker events were impacted by the pandemic as well.
In fact, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) had to push some of its events toward the autumn and winter last year. In light of the pandemic, the WSOP decided to roll out two online poker tournaments for the Main Event. The winners of those tournaments then meet for a live game. As a result, the number of entries for the WSOP Main Event decreased significantly last year. In contrast, back in 2019, the Main Event attracted some 8,569 entries. This was the second-largest number of entries for the event in the history of WSOP.
However, it seems that this year the entries for WSOP’s Main Event are coming back full force. Despite the vaccination requirement and health and safety measures, this year’s event has seen 6,650 entries. Consequently, the entries have generated a hefty $62,011,250 prize pool.
Big Prizes Await the Top Players
Starting on November 4, the WSOP Main Event this year is set to run through November 17. Although all top 1000 participants are going to collect a prize, only the first 9 players are going to receive a prize above $1 million.
There is a rather drastic difference in the prizes when it comes to a player that takes 9th place or 10th-11th place. If a player takes 9th place they will collect a $1 million prize, while players in 10th or 11th place will go home with only $585,000.
| Place | Earnings |
| 1st | $8,000,000 |
| 2nd | $4,300,000 |
| 3rd | $3,000,000 |
| 4th | $2,300,000 |
| 5th | $1,800,000 |
On the other hand, the player that ranks 3rd will go home with $3 million, while the 2nd place will reward the player with $4.3 million. However, when it comes to first place, the prize amount jumps significantly. The winner of the WSOP Main Event is going to collect a hefty $8 million prize, as well as a WSOP bracelet.
While some 1,000 players remain in the battle, it is too early to say who the winner is going to be. Earlier this week, the famous poker pro and 2003 WSOP World Championship winner, Chris Moneymaker entered the Main Event. According to WSOP, he is currently holding 12th place with a 1,432,000 chip count.