What Was The Largest Single Payout After Adjusting For Inflation?
Published on 2013-07-15 23:25:00
The very first "main event" took place in 1970. The event, which was "won" by Johnny Moss, was an invitational that was determined by a vote.
The first main event that actually had a buy-in occurred in 1971, and this event was also won by Johnny Moss. Moss defeated Walter "Puggy" Pearson in the $5,000 buy-in event and took home $30,000 for his troubles.
Over the past 40+ years, the size of the main event has swelled thanks to the surge in popularity of the game of poker. Things really accelerated when online poker started its boom - in 2002, the main event attracted 631 players. By 2012, the main event field was well over 6,000 players.
I thought that it would be interesting to look at the main event payouts since 1971 and see what they would translate to in 2013 dollars:
Year - Payout (Inflation Adjusted Payout)
1971 - $30,000 ($173,410.40)
1972 - $80,000 ($446,927.37)
1973 - $130,000 ($684,210.53)
1974 - $160,000 ($616,113.74)
1975 - $210,000 ($913,043.48)
1976 - $220,000 ($905,349.79)
1977 - $340,000 ($1,312,741.31)
1978 - $210,000 ($752,688.17)
1979 - $270,000 ($868,167.20)
1980 - $385,000 ($1,093,750.00)
1981 - $375,000 ($964,010.28)
1982 - $520,000 ($1,259,079.90)
1983 - $540,000 ($1,267,605.63)
1984 - $660,000 ($1,486,486.49)
1985 - $700,000 ($1,521,739.13)
1986 - $570,000 ($1,215,351.81)
1987 - $625,000 ($1,286,008.23)
1988 - $700,000 ($1,383,399.21)
1989 - $755,000 ($1,424,528.30)
1990 - $895,000 ($1,601,073.35)
1991 - $1,000,000 ($1,715,265.87)
1992 - $1,000,000 ($1,666,666.67)
1993 - $1,000,000 ($1,618,122.98)
1994 - $1,000,000 ($1,577,287.07)
1995 - $1,000,000 ($1,533,742.33)
1996 - $1,000,000 ($1,490,312.97)
1997 - $1,000,000 ($1,457,725.95)
1998 - $1,000,000 ($1,434,720.23)
1999 - $1,000,000 ($1,402,524.54)
2000 - $1,500,000 ($2,035,278.15)
2001 - $1,500,000 ($1,981,505.94)
2002 - $2,000,000 ($2,600,780.23)
2003 - $2,500,000 ($3,176,620.08)
2004 - $5,000,000 ($6,188,118.81)
2005 - $7,500,000 ($8,982,035.93)
2006 - $12,000,000 ($13,921,113.69)
2007 - $8,250,000 ($9,301,014.66)
2008 - $9,152,416 ($9,937,476.66)
2009 - $8,547,042 ($9,310,503.27)
2010 - $8,944,310 ($9,586,613.08)
2011 - $8,715,638 ($9,059,914.76)
2012 - $8,531,853 ($8,688,241.34)
2013 - $8,359,531 ($8,359,531.00)
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Filed Under: World Series of Poker