WSOP Main Event, in its 50th year, draws second-largest field
The 50th World Series of Poker Main Event will feature its second-largest field ever after 8,569 players entered the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Texas Hold’em World Championship at the Rio Convention Center.
The winner of poker’s most prestigious tournament will pocket a $10 million first-place prize from a prize pool of $80.5 million. The top nine places will earn at least $1 million, with second place worth $6 million, third place worth $4 million, fourth place worth $3 million and fifth place worth $2.2 million.
The top 1,286 finishers will be paid, with the minimum payout of $15,000.
The Main Event, which will run through July 16, featured three starting flights on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, when there were a record number of entries for one sitting at 4,877. Late registration added 100 entries on Saturday and 344 on Sunday.
John Cynn of Indianapolis won the 2018 Main Event title and an $8.8 million first-place prize after topping a field of 7,874.
The 2006 Main Event featured a record number of entries at 8,773. Jamie Gold won the championship and a $12 million first-place prize.
The field features players from all 50 states and 87 countries.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.