2016 WSOP Main Event Surprises with Most Players in Five Years

It’s been awhile since the World Series of Poker broke any significant records in the Main Event but today’s 4,240 entries certainly counts.

In fact Day 1c is the biggest starting day in the 47-year history of the $10,000 buy-in tournament.

When combined with the 2,497 players from Day 1a and Day 1c, it brings the overall field of the 2016 Main Event up to 6,737, making it the biggest in five years.

You’d have to go all the way back to 2011, just after Black Friday, to find a bigger edition of the venerable tournament.

$63m Up for Grabs, 1,011 to be Paid

The 6,737 entries brought the prize pool up to $63,327,800, with $8,000,000 set aside for first place.

A total of 1,011 players will make it into the money, which is the most spots the tournament has ever paid out. That’s partially because of a slightly flatter payout structure that was introduced last year.

The minimum payout in the 2016 WSOP Main Event is $15,000. Here’s a complete look at the payouts for the final table:

• 1. $8,000,000
• 2. $4,657,552
• 3. $3,451,175
• 4. $2,574,808
• 5. $1,934,579
• 6. $1,463,906
• 7. $1,250,000
• 8. $1,100,000
• 9. $1,000,000

Each player at the final table is guaranteed at least $1 million for their efforts.

As expected the pros were out in droves on Day 1c with poker’s big three Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth and Phil Ivey all joining the action and advancing to Day 2.

Ivey was perhaps the most surprising, as he skipped the entire 2016 WSOP, but sauntered into the Rio to play the Main Event this morning.

There were also a number of celebrities in the action including Ray Romano, Brad Garrett, Kevin Pollak and former MLB relief pitcher Brad Lidge.

At the time this article was published pros David Benyamine, Fedor Holz, Doug Kim and Jamie Kerstetter were among the chip leaders.

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