On Sunday, WSOP officials said that registrations for Day 1C of the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event had already surpassed the total registrations for Day 1B, while Day 1B was going on. As such, it was expected that Day 1C would be gigantic. It was. The Day 1C field of 3,968 players set a record for the largest starting flight in WSOP history, easily shattering last year’s mark of 3,467. Leading the 2,571 survivors (that’s more than the total Day 1B field) is Eric Tracy, who, with 206,175 chips, is one of two players to make it out of any of the Day 1 flights with over 200,000. Phil Ivey finished Day 1C close behind with 187,025 chips.
Day 1C’s record turnout put the total 2014 WSOP Main Event field at 6,683, making it the fifth largest Main Event of all-time. Here is a look at the top five:
2006 (Champ: Jamie Gold) – 8,773
2010 (Jonathan Duhamel) – 7,319
2011 (Pius Heinz) – 6,865
2008 (Peter Eastgate) – 6,844
2014 (TBD) – 6,683
The 2006 Main Event was held during the peak of the poker boom. At that time, online qualifiers were being held seemingly around the clock and the poker economy was hopping. In October of that year, though, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed in the United States, leading many poker rooms to leave the U.S. market, which in turn hurt internet poker traffic. The Main Event field has never come close to the levels it reached in 2006 and likely will not until the online poker market opens back up in the U.S., well beyond the three states in which it is regulated now. Aside from 2010, entrant numbers have been in the 6000’s every year since 2006.
The 6,683 players created a total prize pool of $62,820,200 (6,683 x $10,000 less 6 percent for fees and tournament staff). We would say that generated the $10,000,000 first prize, but that would be wrong, as that $10,000,000 was guaranteed by the WSOP. The end result of that is that there is a much wider gulf between first and second place than there would normally be and less prize money will go to the rest of the field.
Based on a payout comparison paper published by the WSOP, last year’s first prize was 14 percent of the prize pool (the paper shows a slightly different prize than what was actually awarded, but we’ll run with it). If that percentage was used this year, the first prize would be $8,794,828, well short of the $10,000,000 that is guaranteed. The portion of the prize pool going to the winner has increased by about 2 percent; this 2 percent had to come from somewhere and that somewhere is the rest of the players who make the money.
Speaking of those players, the Main Event will pay down to 693 spots, with a min-cash of $18,406. For comparison, with a smaller overall prize pool, the min-cash last year was $19,106.
Today will see the 505 survivors from Day 1A compete in Day 2A, while the 1,428 from Day 1B will get together for Day 2B. Both groups will play at the same time, but will be segregated so that only players from their respective days can play against each other.
2014 World Series of Poker Main Event – Day 1C Chip Leaders
1. Eric Tracy – 206,175
2. Phil Ivey – 187,025
3. Ronald Pease – 181,850
4. Nick Yunis – 171,100
5. Thomas Sarra Jr. – 168,100
6. Martin Hansen – 167,250
7. Jared Bleznick – 165,200
8. Blair Hinkle – 161,650
9. Konstantin Tolokno – 161,550
10. Paul Richardson – 158,825
2014 World Series of Poker Main Event – Overall Chip Leaders
1. Eric Tracy – 206,175
2. Martin Jacobson – 200,100
3. Trey Luxembruger – 193,450
4. Sargis Hakobian – 190,125
5. Ryan Buckholtz – 189,000
6. Phil Ivey – 187,025
7. Ronald Pease – 181,850
8. Daniel Wirgau – 173,350
9. Nick Yunis – 171,100
10. Thomas Sarra Jr. – 168,100
* Tournament information courtesy WSOP.com