48th Annual World Series of Poker® Reaches All-Time Highs
2017 HIGH WATER MARK WITH ATTENDANCE, PRIZE MONEY & PLACES PAID
The 7,221-Player Main Event is the Largest Since 2010
LAS VEGAS (July 17, 2017) – It was another record-breaking year at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, where the 48th annual event continued to shatter records in 2017 during the seven-week, 74-event poker festival that ran from May 31 and concludes on July 20.
A staggering 120,995 entries participated this year (up 12.2%), marking the first time the event has ever attracted over 120,000 entries, keeping the WSOP far and away poker’s biggest annual live festival.
This WSOP established a host of new records as poker enthusiasts from 111 different nations traveled to Las Vegas to compete in the game’s grandest spectacle, and a record 16,814 players received prize money this year.
The WSOP remained the industry leader in terms of prize money awarded, with this year’s tally amounting to $231,010,874 – the most in series history.
The average field size in the 74-event bracelet schedule was 1,635 entries, the highest average in the WSOP’s 48-year history, surpassing last year’s 1,563 average. This means, to win a gold bracelet, on average, a player must beat 1,634 others to claim the crown. So despite the highest number of events offered this year (74), it has never been harder to claim a WSOP gold bracelet than it is today.
The Main Event in 2017 had 7,221 entries, a 7.2% increase over last year, creating the largest prize pool of the 2017 WSOP at $67,877,700 and the largest first-place prize, which amounts to $8,150,000. The 2017 Main Event was the third largest in the history of the series, only behind the 2010 and 2006 Main Event, which had 7,319 and 8,773 respectively.
“On behalf of the entire WSOP team, our heartfelt thank you to poker players from around the globe who showed up in droves to be part of the biggest World Series of Poker yet,” said World Series of Poker Executive Director Ty Stewart. “It was another terrific year of huge prize pools and memorable moments. We will catch our breath and then get to work on 2018 planning and getting that men’s main hallway bathroom fixed.”
For just the fifth time in its history, WSOP generated a total prize pool that topped the $200 million mark.
In the 48-year history of the WSOP, the game’s most prestigious tournament series has now awarded over $2.5 billion -- actually $2,732,754,201 in prize money. This year’s total prize pool increased 4.4% from last year’s $221,211,336.
It was another successful year in terms of raising money for charity as well. The two featured charity-linked tournaments, the Little One for ONE DROP (Event #74) and the ONE DROP High Roller (Event #6), plus the 1% for One Drop campaign, where players can donate 1% of their winnings to the cause which support the WSOP’s official charity partner the ONE DROP organization (www.onedrop.org), raised a combined $992,841. ONE DROP uses donations to directly implement water access projects, where an average of $100 can transform someone’s life forever. The poker community via the World Series of Poker has donated more than $19,603,877 since the partnership began in 2012 – enough to directly impact the lives of over 196,000 people.
Legions of amateur players competed alongside legendary poker pros, Hollywood A-listers and international sports figures to establish the new milestones. Among the notable non-poker playing names competing during this year’s WSOP included: most decorated Olympian of all-time Michael Phelps, Brazilian soccer star Neymar, actor and comedian Brad Garrett, , actor and comedian Ray Romano, NFL defensive star and Super Bowl champion Richard Seymour, actress Jennifer Tilly, Stanley Cup champion Phil Kessel, German soccer player Max Kruse and actor James Woods. Of the players listed above, Kruse was the only player to reach a final table. He finished in 4th place in the $1,500 2-7 Triple Draw event for $28,740.
The youngest player in this year’s WSOP Main Event was Alex Conklin, from Webster, New York, who played Day 1B on his 21st birthday. He reached the money and finished in 578th place for $22,449.
The oldest player to participate in this year’s Main Event was 96-year-old William Wachter of Carmel, New York, who played Day 1C and was eliminated late on Day 1. This was the fifth consecutive year that Wachter was the oldest player in the field. Jack Ury, at the young age of 97, still holds the WSOP record as oldest participant. Wachter remains the oldest to cash. He finished in 524th place for $19,500 in 2015 at the age of 94 years old.
The $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Championship – commonly referred to as the WSOP Main Event – paid out a record 1,084 places this year, the most places paid in the event’s history. The money was officially reached in Level 16 on Friday, July 14 around 1:30am.
To get up to date statistics from the 2017 World Series of Poker, please go to: http://www.lnmandiya.com/players/stats/byyear/?y=2017
To get All-Time WSOP statistics, please go to: http://www.lnmandiya.com/players/stats/
Here is a quick statistical overview of the 2017 WSOP official gold bracelet events:
- Official WSOP Gold Bracelet Events: 74
- Total Entries: 120,995
- Total Prize Pool: $231,010,874
- Total Cashers: 16,814
- Main Event Entries: 7,221
- Main Event Prize Pool: $67,877,400
- Largest 1st Place Prize: $8,150,000 (Event #73)
- Average 1st Place Prize: $528,736
- Average Field Size: 1,635 entries per event (most all-time)
- Average Age: 41.42 (Male average: 41.26; Female average: 44.28)
- Male Participation: 94.6% (114,479 entries)
- Female Participation: 5.4% (6,516 entries)
- # of Countries Represented: 111
- # of U.S. States Represented: 50 + District of Columbia
- # of Multiple Gold Bracelet Winners: 2: David Bach (Events 11, 30) and Nipun Java (Events 10, 71)
- Most Entries by Country:
- 1) United States (94,087)
- 2) Canada (4,951)
- 3) United Kingdom (4,310)
- 4) France (1,546)
- 5) Australia (1,223) ↑3 from 2016
- 6) Germany (1,172)
- 7) Brazil (1,166)
- 8) Russia (1,080) ↓3
- 9) Austria (743)
- 10) China (696) ↑5
The 2017 WSOP established new records, which are detailed below:
- Most Entrants: 120,995
- Most Cashers: 16,814
- Largest Starting Flight in Main Event History: Event #73, Flight C: 4,262 entries
- Largest non-Hold’em field size ever: Event #18, the $565 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament, attracted 3,186 entries, making it the largest field ever sat to play poker outside of a Hold’em event in live poker history.
- Largest Seniors Event in WSOP History: A record 5,389 players showed up for this year’s WSOP Seniors Championship, officially Event #31.That was up from the previous record of 4,499 in 2016.
- Largest Online WSOP Gold Bracelet Ever: A record 2,509 entered this year’s $333 WSOP.com Online “Little Grind” Bracelet Event.
- Largest Buy-In for an Online WSOP Gold Bracelet Ever: This year’s series featured the largest buy-in for a WSOP ONLINE Gold Bracelet event with Event #61: $3,333 No-Limit Hold’em ONLINE High Roller.
- Largest $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Field Size in Poker History: Event #62, the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller event drew 205 entries, the most ever at this buy-in level in this form of poker.
- Most events with $1 million+ 1st Prize: 7 distinct events For the second consecutive year, seven different events awarded seven-figure prizes to the winners (Event #5, Event #6, Event #20, Event #47, Event #62, Event #67 and Event #73). Event #6 and #73 were the only two events to award multiple million dollar payouts (Event #6 (4 players); Event #73 (9 players)
- Most 4,000+ Field Sizes in One WSOP: A record 8 events had field sizes of 4,000 entries or more, a new record.Event 5 (18,054 entries; 3rd largest field size ever); Event 19 (10,015 entries, 4th largest field size ever), Event #20 (7,761 entries), Event #31 (5,389 entries, largest seniors event ever), Event #47 (6,716 entries), Event #60 (8,120 entries, 6th largest field size ever), Event #73 (7,221 entries, 3rd largest Main Event ever), Event #74 and (4,391 entries)
- Most 6,000+ Field Sizes in One WSOP: A record 6 events each surpassed 6,000 entries, the most in one WSOP. Four of the top 10 field sizes in poker history occurred at this year’s series. (See above bullet point for events).The World Series of Poker is the only poker tournament operator to ever host any poker tournaments with at least a $500 buy-in that have attracted more than 6,000 entrants and a $300 buy-in that attracted more than 10,000 entrants.
- Most cashes at WSOP without a win: Tony Cousineau of Daytona Beach, Fla., extended his record as the player with the most cashes – 78 – without a win. He cashed four times in 2017.
- Most cashes in a single WSOP year: John Racener cashed 17 times at this year’s summer series, a new WSOP record. He earned one gold bracelet, had four top 25 finishes and cashed in two of the three online bracelet events. Also cashing 17 times was Chris Ferguson. He tied Racener after cashing in the final event of the series.
- All-time Cashes and Final Tables: 14-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth added to his record as the individual all-time leader in cashes (126) with his seven cashes in 2017. With one final table appearance this year, Hellmuth has now final tabled an incredible 54 of the 126 events he has cashed in.Of the 54 final table appearances, Hellmuth has either won or come runner-up in 24 of them. Hellmuth also leads the category for most 4-9th place finishes, with 34.
- 100 WSOP Cashes: Daniel Negreanu and Men Nguyen collected their 100th career WSOP cashes at this year’s series. Negreanu cashed 11 times to bring his total to 105 (4th all-time) and Nguyen cashed four times tobring his total to 101 cashes (8th all-time). These totals include Circuit, Europe and APAC cashes.
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 2017, the event attracted 120,995 entrants from 111 different countries to the Rio in Las Vegas and awarded over $231 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.
About ONE DROP
ONE DROP—a non-profit organization created in 2007 by Cirque du Soleil Founder Guy Laliberté - strives to ensure that water is accessible to all, today and forever. ONE DROP significantly and sustainably improves living conditions through innovative projects which promote self-reliance in communities worldwide. To learn more, visit www.ONEDROP.org.