
In 2008, 1,297 players took part on Day 1a. An additional 1,158 people played on Day 1b, and another 1,928 people played on Day 1c. An eye-popping 2,461 people played on Day 1d, a number so large that it left tournament officials scrambling to place everyone. In the end though, things seemed to go fairly smoothly.
The total prize pool will be over $64 million dollars, with the first place winner receiving $9.1 million. The top 666 players will be paid a minimum of $21,320.
This number is extremely encouraging for the industry in general. This is the second largest number of participants in a World Series of Poker main event ever - only the 2006 WSOP main event, which was won by Jamie Gold, had a larger field (8,773). Last year, as mentioned, the total field was 6,358 players, and in 2005 the number was 5,619.
I don't think that anybody was predicting such a large field this year. Most of the people that I spoke with were predicting that the field would be slightly smaller than last year, with many expecting about 6,000 players. 6,844 is an extremely solid number, especially in the post-UIGEA poker environment.
All in all, an extremely encouraging day for Harrah's, and the poker industry in general.
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Filed Under: World Series of Poker