June 30, 2007
The World Series of Poker presented by Milwaukee’s Best Light set yet another record today. The largest number of poker players ever to enter a preliminary event at the WSOP packed into the Rio All-Suite Casino and Hotel on June 30th. Event #49 of this year’s World Series attracted a whopping 3,151 entries. This is the busiest day in the 38-year history of the WSOP.
The record number shattered the old high mark of 2,998 set during the first week of the World Series. The previous record was set in Event #3 – the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em championship, won by Ciaran O’Leary from Ireland. For this event, each player anted-up a $1,500 entry fee and will be playing no-limit hold’em. The tournament is expected to last three days. First place will pay $722,914 to the winner. Overall, 324 players will receive prize money out of a total pool exceeding $4.3 million. The largest poker tournament in history remains the 2006 WSOP $10,000 buy-in championship event, with 8,773 players. The second-largest of all-time is the 2005 WSOP championship event, with 5,619 players. Accordingly, today’s event ranks at the third-largest poker tournament of all-time. The 2007 WSOP has already set attendance records for the largest ladies tournament and largest seniors tournaments of all-time. Furthermore, no less than seven events this year have attracted in excess of 2,000 players each. However, this was the first event to exceed 3,000 entries.
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