by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Jul 11, 2023 | Updated on Jul 11, 2023
Summary:
- The 2023 WSOP Main Event broke the record for the largest turnout
- The total prize money has come up to $93,399,900
- Members of the poker community have expressed unhappiness over payout structure
The 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event was expected to become the largest WSOP Main Event in history and those expectations were met.
The 2023 WSOP Main Event had a record turnout and a total of $93,399,900 in prize money was collected.
2023 WSOP Main Event Breaks Record
A total of 10,043 registrations came in for the 2023 WSOP Main Event which was a Main Event registration record. The buy-in for the Main Event was fixed at the usual $10,000 with the winner guaranteed to take home a massive payout.
This was the first time in a long time that the US poker event was taking place outside the Rio, Las Vegas. The 2023 WSOP was held at the Horseshoe & Paris Las Vegas and the general response so far has been great. The winner of the 2023 WSOP Main Event is expected to be crowned on July 16.
The WSOP Main Event record prior to this year’s edition stood at 8,773 registrations and WSOP tournament organizers expected this Main Event to surpass that number. The end result was that for the first time the Main Event saw a 5 figure registration which pleased WSOP Senior Vice President and Executive Director Ty Stewart who said it wasn’t just a big achievement for the WSOP but also for the game of poker.
Poker Community Not Happy With Main Event Payout Structure
While the WSOP was thrilled with the Main Event record attendance being broken by such a huge manner, there was dissension in the poker community with regards to the current payout structure of the WSOP Main Event.
The winner is expected to go home with a prize of $12.1 million and the prestigious WSOP gold bracelet. The dissension is with the payout structure after this as the runner-up will get nearly 50 percent less than the winner with a prize of $6,500,000. The biggest WSOP Main Event win till date was in 2006 when Jamie Gold took home $12 million.
The WSOP wanted to break that record in 2023 and hence decided to give the winner an additional $100,000 to boost the overall winnings to $12.1 million. The WSOP currently allows the top 15 percent of the player field to cashout. Players wanted the additional money being awarded to the winner to be passed down the line and for the runner-up to get more!
