The 2008 World Series of Poker has been the focus of the poker universe for the past six weeks. There have been 53 tournaments completed and the 54th, the $10,000 buy-in Main Event, is in full swing from Las Vegas. Given that online poker in the United States has become complicated with the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006 as well as the recent failure of HR 5767, it’s refreshing to see that poker continues to remain popular. Let’s take a look at some of the superlatives reached at the 2008 WSOP just days into the Main Event.
After the third day of play in the Main Event, a bevy of records have been passed up. First and foremost, the 2008 WSOP had the most number of entrants of any WSOP ever held. The previous record was 54,288. This may be attributed to a larger number of $1,500-$2,500 buy-in tournaments in 2008, held to balance the high-dollar buy-in tournaments and to make the WSOP accessible to any aspiring poker player. You can think of the WSOP like a training ground for future poker pros, many of whom have succeeded online and are now testing their skills in the live arena.
Last year’s total prize pool of $159,796,918 was shattered in 2008. This is to the delight of Harrah’s officials, who actually moved the final table of the Main Event back to November in order to increase the popularity of the sport. Eight bracelet winners pocketed at least $750,000 and one – Scotty Nguyen – cashed for $1.9 million by winning the $50,000 buy-in HORSE tournament.
Due in some part to the legislative difficulties in the United States as well as foreigners taking advantage of a friendly exchange rate, the international contingent of the World Series of Poker was large in 2008. In fact, players from 104 different countries or territories have competed in 2008 WSOP events as of the end of Day 1C. A press release by Harrah’s asserts that this is half of the number of countries that sent players to the 2006 Olympics. The previous record number of countries was just 87, set last year.
Event #2 of the 2008 WSOP, a $1,500 no limit tournament, attracted 3,929 entrants, the largest non-Main Event tournament field to date. This number trailed only the 2005, 2006, and 2007 Main Events in tournament size. When the 2008 Main Event is completed, Event #2 will become the fifth largest WSOP tournament ever.
The Hinkle brothers, Grant and Blair, both took home bracelets this year. It was the first time two brothers have ever won WSOP bracelets in the same year and only the second time brothers have ever won WSOP bracelets overall. The only other siblings to take home gold were Puggy and J.C. Pearson.
WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack commented, “This has been an incredible season and we’re not done yet. So far, players from 56 countries, every state in the U.S. and every Canadian province have cashed at this year’s WSOP. When all is said and done, we’re going to award more prize money to more players than at any other point in our illustrious 39-year history.”
The 2008 WSOP will play down to the final nine players on July 14th, at which point the tournament will be paused for 100 days. On November 9th, the remaining players will return to the Rio for the conclusion of the Main Event.
