Final figures on the prize pool for the WSOP Main Event have now been officially released and showcase rewards that break all previous records for this global poker championship.
This year’s winner will take home $12 million – a huge increase over last year’s $7.5 million paycheck given to winner Joe Hachem. But the winner is not the only one to reap tournament riches; each of the top 12 finishers will receive at least a million dollars and the last surviving 873 players in the World Series of Poker Main Event will be “in the money”, with the 873rd finisher receiving $14 597 return on his or her “buy-in” fee of S10 000.
Here’s the top 12 list and the winnings that go with it:
1st place: $12 million
2nd place: $6.1 million
3rd place: $4.1 million
4th place: $3.6 million
5th place: $3.2 million
6th place: $2.8 million
7th place: $2.3 million
8th place: $1.9 million
9th place: $1.5 million
10th place: $1.1 million
11th place: $1.1 million
12th place: $1.1 million
The total prize pool for the event, calculated on the buy-in fees from a record 8 773 players who entered for the main event, is $83.5 million. The number of entrants set another record and is a considerable increase over last year’s main event competitor list of some 5 619 players. It also stands in stark contrast to the first WSOP, where 38 contestants played!
“This World Series of Poker stands out as the best in the tournament’s illustrious 37-year history,” said Jeffrey Pollack, WSOP commissioner. “Never before have so many people from around the world competed for so much prize money and the honour of winning the most coveted prize in all of poker – the World Series of Poker champion’s bracelet.”
The elimination process was in full swing last (Wednesday) night as we went to press. With Day 6 of the World Series of Poker’s main event going hammer and tongs, there were 1 541 players left from the record 8 773 entrants.
Big name pros like defending champion Joseph Hachem, Daniel Negreanu, Kathy Liebert, and others continued to play through the exhausting and stressful hours. Others, like Huck Seed and 2004 champ Greg Raymer, had been knocked out.