2012 World Series of Poker Begins Sunday

The 2012 World Series of Poker is finally upon us, with the first event -- the $500 buy-in Casino Employees Event (No. 1) -- kicking off on Sunday, then new events beginning every day until early July when the $10,000 buy-in Main Event (No. 61) begins on July 7.

Last year's WSOP was yet another record-breaker for poker's most prestigious and longest-running tournament series. The total number of entrants in WSOP events has grown steadily over the years, with last year's total of 75,672 eclipsing the 2010 record. That meant the total money awarded at the 2011 WSOP added up to a staggering $192,008,868.

Last year's Main Event drew 6,865 entrants, thus building a $64,540,858 prize pool with $8,715,638 of that going to winner Pius Heinz.

The second-largest field for an event last summer came in Event No. 54, the last of the $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em events which drew 4,576 players. As far as the smallest field for a WSOP event last summer is concerned, there was a tie between the $10K 2-7 NL Draw event (No. 16) and the $10K seven-card stud event (No. 21), both of which drew 126 players.

Players from 105 different countries participated at the WSOP in 2011, with players from the United States winning the most bracelets with 39. Next was Canada (5), the United Kingdom (4), and France and Russia (3 each).

Of course, the U.S. also had the most entrants at the WSOP, by far, with 56,210. Canada was a distant second there as well with 5,046 entrants. Percentage-wise, the Netherlands was actually the country with the most cashes per entrants (among countries with a minimum of 300 entrants), with 15.3% of their entrants cashing. Next on that list was Ireland, Russia, Hungary, and Sweden, with the U.K. seventh and the U.S. 10th.

Tom Dwan entered more events than any other player at the 2011 WSOP, signing up for 54 of the 58 events. Quite a feat, considering he couldn't play in the Casino Employees Event or the Seniors Event. Or the Ladies Event, really, although a handful of men did play in that one. Dwan ultimately cashed in three events, his best score coming with a fifth-place finish in the $10K H.O.R.S.E.

Meanwhile, Kirill Rabtsov earned the most cashes last year with seven, one ahead of 17 players who cashed six times. The Russian managed the feat while playing in 23 events total.

Of course, when it came to extreme efficiency, Ben Lamb took that prize last year to go along with capturing WSOP Player of the Year. Lamb cashed five times, including a first ($10K Pot-Limit Omaha), a second ($3,000 PLO), a third in the Main Event, another final table (finishing eighth in the $50K Poker Players Championship), and a 12th.

All of those cashes added up to more than $5.35 million in prize money, and Lamb only entered 10 events!

We'll be reporting as usual here at Befair poker all summer all of the highlights from this summer's WSOP. Here's a look at the full schedule of events:

May 27 - No. 1 - $500 Casino Employees NLHE (2-day)
May 28 - No. 2 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day)
May 29 - No. 3 - $3,000 Heads-Up NLHE/PLO (3-day)
May 29 - No. 4 - $1,500 7-Card Stud Hi-Low (3-day)
May 30 - No. 5 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em (3-day)
May 31 - No. 6 - $5,000 Mix-Max NLHE (4-day)
May 31 - No. 7 - $1,500 7-Card Stud (3-day)
June 1 - No. 8 - $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low (3-day)
June 2 - No. 9 - $1,500 NLHE Re-entry (5-day)

June 3 - No. 10 - $5,000 7-Card Stud (3-day)
June 4 - No. 11 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (3-day)
June 5 - No. 12 - $10,000 Heads-Up NLHE (4-day)
June 5 - No. 13 - $1,500 Limit Hold'em (3-day)
June 6 - No. 14 - $1,500 NLHE Shootout (3-day)
June 6 - No. 15 - $5,000 7-Card Stud Hi-Low (3-day)
June 7 - No. 16 - $1,500 NLHE, 6-max. (3-day)
June 8 - No. 17 - $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em (3-day)
June 8 - No. 18 - $2,500 Razz (3-day)
June 9 - No. 19 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day)
June 9 - No. 20 - $5,000 Limit Hold'em (3-day)

June 10 - No. 21 - $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day)
June 10 - No. 22 - $2,500 2-7 Limit Triple Draw (3-day)
June 11 - No. 23 - $3,000 NLHE, 6-max. (3-day)
June 11 - No. 24 - $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low (3-day)
June 12 - No. 25 - $1,500 LHE Shootout (3-day)
June 12 - No. 26 - $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (3-day)
June 13 - No. 27 - $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. (3-day)
June 14 - No. 28 - $2,500 NLHE, 4-max. (3-day)
June 15 - No. 29 - $1,000 Seniors NLHE (3-day)
June 15 - No. 30 - $1,500 2-7 No-Limit Draw (3-day)
June 16 - No. 31 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day)
June 16 - No. 32 - $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. (3-day)

June 17 - No. 33 - $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day)
June 18 - No. 34 - $5,000 PLO, 6-max. (3-day)
June 18 - No. 35 - $2,500 Mixed LHE/NLHE (3-day)
June 19 - No. 36 - $3,000 NLHE Shootout (3-day)
June 19 - No. 37 - $2,500 8-Game (3-day)
June 20 - No. 38 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day)
June 21 - No. 39 - $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (3-day)
June 21 - No. 40 - $2,500 Limit Hold'em (3-day)
June 22 - No. 41 - $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day)
June 22 - No. 42 - $2,500 Omaha/7CS Hi-Low (3-day)
June 23 - No. 43 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day)

June 24 - No. 44 - $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day)
June 24 - No. 45 - $50,000 Poker Players Champ. (5-day)
June 25 - No. 46 - $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day)
June 26 - No. 47 - $1,500 PLO Hi-Low (3-day)
June 26 - No. 48 - $3,000 Limit Hold'em (3-day)
June 27 - No. 49 - $1,500 Ante Only NLHE (3-day)
June 28 - No. 50 - $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day)
June 29 - No. 51 - $1,000 Ladies NLHE (3-day)
June 29 - No. 52 - $2,500 10-Game, Six-Handed (3-day)
June 30 - No. 53 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day)

July 1 - No. 54 - $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day)
July 1 - No. 55 - $1,000,000 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day)
July 2 - No. 56 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (3-day)
July 3 - No. 57 - $10,000 NLHE, 6-max. (3-day)
July 3 - No. 58 - $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low (3-day)
July 4 - No. 59 - $1,000 NLHE Re-entry (5-day)
July 5 - No. 60 - $10,000 2-7 No-Limit Draw (3-day)
July 7 - No. 61 - $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em, Main Event (7-day to final table)

Join Betfair Poker Now.