The 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event will commence from Nov 04 and stay open till Nov 09. The WSOP decided to add additional Day1 flights in order to give international players a chance to travel to Vegas and take part in the $10,000 Main Event at the Rio.
International poker players did not think they would be able to take part in the 2021 WSOP as the United States had an international travel ban in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The White House confirmed in October that the international travel ban would be lifted on Nov 08 as the WSOP extended its Day1 flights to allow international players to make the Main Event.
WSOP Main Event – Look At The Numbers
The 2020 WSOP live poker tournament was canceled due to the pandemic and hence the last WSOP Main Event was back in 2019 when Germany’s Hossein Ensan beat Italian poker player Dario Sammartino to collect $10 million in prize money.
The WSOP is expecting a strong turnout at the 2021 WSOP Main Event as the lack of a live poker WSOP Main Event in 2020 should have created market demand. The fact that international poker players can also make it in time for the 2021 WSOP Main Event is another reason why the WSOP is expecting a new record at this year’s Main Event.
The first time the WSOP Main Event recorded more than 1,000 registrations was back in 2004 when a total of 2,576 players signed up. This was a massive increase as the 2003 Main Event which Chris Moneymaker won saw only 839 registrations. Ever since the 2004 Main Event which Greg Raymer won, the numbers have increased and have never dipped below the 5,000 mark since then.
The highest number of WSOP Main Event registrations in the history of the tournament was back in 2006 when 8,773 registrations came in. American poker player Jamie Gold went on to win the tournament and take home the highest first prize to date in WSOP Main Event history as he pocketed a whopping $12 million in prize money.
Last Four WSOP Main Events
If we take a look at the last four WSOP live poker editions, we will have a better idea of how the Main Event has performed. The 2016 WSOP Main Event saw a total of 6,737 registrations and a first-place payout of just over $8 million, the 2017 WSOP Main Event did a lot better as 7,221 players registered and the first-place payout was $8.15 million.
The 2018 WSOP Main Event saw 7,874 players register and the first-place payout was $8.8 million in prize money. The 2019 WSOP Main Event nearly created a new record but fell just short as 8,569 players registered and the first-place payout was $10 million.
2021 WSOP Main Event – New Records?
If we go by the numbers from the last four WSOP Main Events, we can make an average estimate and say the 2021 WSOP Main Event will attract around 7,500 registrations. The changes are the 2021 WSOP Main Event will go past 8,000 entries again but to be conservative, let’s look at what prize money one can expect if there are 7,500 registrations.
This would create a prize pool of just below $70 million with the winner set to collect around $8 million. A total of 1,125 players will finish in the money and the minimum cashout would be no less than $15,000.
The WSOP is also running WSOP Main Event satellites at the Rio from Nov 03 to 08.
