6,598 and Other Numbers from the 2012 WSOP
All told, the 61 bracelet events for this year's WSOP drew a total of 74,766 entries, with the overall prize pool for all 61 events adding up to a record $222,035,192. A total of 41 of this summer's events featured prize pools exceeding $1,000,000.
With the last of the three Day 1 flights for this year's World Series of Poker Main Event having completed yesterday, the field for this year's ME ultimately totaled 6,598 players, the group together creating a total prize pool of $62,021,200.
All told, the 61 bracelet events for this year's WSOP drew a total of 74,766 entries, with the overall prize pool for all 61 events adding up to a record $222,035,192. It should be noted that Event #55, the $1,000,000 buy-in "Big One for One Drop" in which 48 played and a prize pool of $42,666,672 was generated, did a lot to help boost that total beyond the previous high.
Per WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky, that total means that during its 43 years $1,642,409,323 has been awarded at the WSOP. Of the 61 events offered at this year's WSOP, 41 of them featured prize pools exceeding $1,000,000.
The average age of the 6,598 who are playing in this year's WSOP Main Event is 37.74 years old, with the oldest being 92-year-old Ellen Graham Deeb, grandmother of Shaun Deeb. The youngest player in this year's WSOP ME is Cody Teska who was just a few days over 21 years old when he took his seat yesterday.
Also of note, Howard "Tahoe" Andrew showed up once again for the Main Event. This marks Andrew's record 39th consecutive WSOP Main Event, as he's played every one since 1974. Doyle Brunson also joined the ME field for Day 1c after indicating he might skip the Main Event this year. Brunson, of course, played at the very first WSOP in 1970, and in every Main Event aside from 1999-2001.
Brunson was part of that huge Day 1c field that saw 3,418 players come out, the most ever for a single day of play in the WSOP Main Event. The WSOP established a record earlier in the summer for biggest single-day turnout when 4,128 came to play Day 1 of Event #29, the $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship.
Other records set this year included the largest ever Omaha/8 tournament (Event #8, 967 entries), the largest ever field for a $1,500 no-limit hold'em tournament with a single-day start (Event #53, 3,166 entries), and the largest ever field for a $1,000 no-limit hold'em tournament with a single-day start (Event #54, 3,221 entries).
Of course, the numbers people are most particularly interested in now are the chip counts for the 4,344 players who survived to play in the two Day 2s today and Wednesday. Here's a look at the top 10 heading into Day 2:
1. William John -- 266,700
2. Randy Haddox -- 188,275
3. John Hoang -- 180,000
4. Erik Hellman -- 175,950
5. James Schafer -- 171,250
6. Marco Bognanni -- 169,600
7. Vanessa Selbst -- 168,350
8. Gerardo Lubas -- 165,825
9. Daniel Strelitz -- 164,125
10. Anh Van Nguyen -- 163,050
Other notables accumulating big stacks during their Day 1s included Brandon Adams (153,100), Brad Booth (146,025), Jason Somerville (144,725), Chance Kornuth (141,775), Daniel Negreanu (140,575), Leo Wolpert (128,300), Lisa Parsons (127,025), Shaun Deeb (125,900), and Eric Baldwin (123,150).
Prices quoted in copy are correct at time of publication but liable to change.
