When former World Series of Poker main event champion Joe McKeehen gave the “shuffle up and deal” call Monday for the final entry day in this year’s main event it was the starting signal for 4,240 players and a new record for a third day start.
Added to the 2,497 players who started playing in the two earlier flights, this brought the 2016 main event roster to 6,737 – the biggest since 2011.
The prize pool now stands at $63,327,800, and this year’s winner will receive $8,000,000, whilst 1,011 others will cash in varying amounts up to a second placing reward of $4,657,552.
The final table survivors will rightfully all receive six-figure pay packets ranging from the first man out at 9th, who will get a million dollars, to the winner and his or her $8 million check.
The final entry flight brought out many of the biggest names in world poker, including Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey, with the latter making his first appearance in this year’s series. The celebrity roster included regulars Ray Romano and Brad Garrett, along with Kevin Pollack.