The organisers of the World Series of Poker have released final statistics on this year’s successful edition of the world’s most prestigious poker tournament, revealing:
* The 50-day poker extravaganza in Las Vegas drew 123,865 players this summer – up 2.4 percent y-o-y;
* The prize pool of the 78-event series at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino was the largest in its 49-year history, amounting to over $266 million – a $35 million or 15.1 percent increase over last year;
* A record 18,105 participants cashed from the prize pools available in the various events, with 28 of them taking home at least a million dollars;
* Top pay-outs were in the Big One for One Drop, where Justin Bonomo won $10 million, and in the Main Event, which made US player John Cynn $8.8 million wealthier;
* The 2018 NLHE Main Event attracted the second largest player list in WSOP history at 7,874 entries;
* Poker fans from 104 nations travelled to Las Vegas to play in this year’s WSOP;
* Phil Hellmuth extended his record for most WSOP career bracelets to 15… 5 ahead of his nearest rivals. He has 138 WSOP cashes to his credit, 8 of them this year;
* In the 49-year history of the tournament series WSOP has now awarded over $2.99 billion — actually $2,999,643,394 in prize money;
* Through charity events like One Drop, WSOP has generated $23,166,974 for good causes since 2012;
* Celebrities at the tables this year included the most decorated Olympian of all-time Michael Phelps, actor and comedians Brad Garrett and Ray Romano, singer Patrick Bruel, rapper Hoodie Allen and music producer Steve Albini, movie director Nick Cassavetes and actress Jennifer Tilly, NFL defensive star and Super Bowl champion Richard Seymour, Stanley Cup champion Phil Kessel, German soccer player Max Kruse and actor James Woods.
* A record 5,918 players showed up for this year’s WSOP Seniors Championship. That was up from the previous record of 5,389 in 2017;
* Average Field Size This Year: 1,588 entries per event;
* A record 9 events had field sizes of 4,000 entries or more, a new record.
* Average Age*: 42.27 (Male average: 42.1; Female average: 45.64);
* Male Participation*: 95.14 percent (111,837 entries);
* Female Participation*: 4.86 percent (5,717 entries);
* Top ten country’s by entries:
United States (89,533)
Canada (5,128)
United Kingdom (4,534)
France (1,671)
Brazil (1,267)
Germany (1,250)
Australia (1,161)
Austria (912)
Russia (894)
China (745)