Last World Series Poker Event turned out a massive crowd in Rio. No one predicted that there would be 7,862 people competing in the monster stack tournament alone, which requires a $1,500 buy-in, but it made it as the second biggest turnout in poker history. The huge turnout caught everyone by surprise, however this year people are preparing for an even larger turnout. The 2015 World Series of Poker, which starts on May 27 with the first rounds of the 68 tournaments starting in July, is predicted to produce even more entrants than last year’s monster stack.
Record Number This Year
There is almost no doubt that this year’s World Series Poker event will break the record for the number of entries competing over the summer for the third year in a row. Seth Palansky, who is an executive of WSOP stated that they don’t like to predict numbers, however there is a strong indication that this year’s event is going to be absolutely massive. Last year, the WSOP drew in a total of 82,630 entries, which created a massive prize pool of $224 million. This was almost 4% higher than those that entered the year before.
This Year’s Predictions
The pre-registration for this year’s WSOP has blown the previous years numbers out of the water. In fact, the 2015 WSOP has surpassed the last five years of registrations combined. On top of this, hotel rooms have been snapped up twice as quickly as the previous year for the week that the WSOP lasts.
The Colossus
It’s been determined that much of the reason for the advanced planning comes from the fact that a new hold-em tournament that doesn’t have a limit has been put in place. This new tournament is called “The Colossus”, and only requires a $565 buy-in. The event starts on May 29 and 30, and is the cheapest tournament ever opened in WSOP history. The Colossus registration alone has completely eclipsed the main event that was held in 2006 that attracted 8,773 buy-ins.
The Monster Stack and Millionaire Maker
The Colossus isn’t the only event bringing in the crowds. The monster stack is returning for the second year in a row on June 11 and June 12. On top of this, the third year of Millionaire Maker, which has a buy in of $1,500, is expected to bring in even more players than the monster stack in the previous year if re-entries are included. This tournament starts on June 5 and 6.
Super Senior Event
As far as new attractions go, the WSOP added another $1,000 buy-in event for seniors, which turn out to actually be an extremely popular tournament due to the fact that many retirees can take time off to play. The Super Seniors event will take place on June 21, which is two days after the traditional senior event. It is open for players who are 65 years old and older.
Why WSOP Is Becoming So Popular
It is believed that WSOP is becoming so popular due to the fact that they ensure that they have a tournament for everyone’s price range. They’ve been able to successfully put wider-reaching events in place that allows more people to play without alienating their core customer base of professional poker players. In order to do this, they are keeping their $10,000 championship events in various disciplines of poker to ensure that professionals are still interested in playing. On top of this, WSOP is keeping the $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship, as well as a high-roller tournament that will cost players $111,111 to enter.