The WSOP tournament is among the most significant annual poker tournaments. The 2023 event is set to break records, and we are looking into how it’s doing.

2023 WSOP Breaks the 2022 Event Records in the First Two Weeks

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is off to a fantastic start this year, breaking records left and right. While many thought the 2022 tournament would culminate in being the top dog, the 2023 event set them straight. With the WSOP still ongoing and ending on the 18th of July, we look at how it’s progressing so far.

2023 vs 2022

The 2022 WSOP delivered a $350 million prize pool, with over 197k participating in the tournament. However, if
you thought it couldn’t get any better, then the 2023 tournament is set to blow you out of the water. So far, participation in this event is up by more than 10% in individual tournaments compared to last year. 

While it can’t yet be seen whether the 2023 edition will break the 197k participants record, it seems to be heading that way. With only two dozen bracelets claimed, the series recorded over 70k participants, with around $75 million in prize money already distributed. That gives it an astonishing $2.8 million per tournament, and approximately 78% of the tournaments generated $1 million in prize pools.

Five Largest WSOP Turnouts

Below we look at some of the most significant WSOP poker events’ participation numbers:

1. 2019 - Big 50 Event with 28,371 entrees
2. 2023 - Gladiators of Poker with 23,088 entrees
3. 2015 - Colossus with 22,374 entrees
4. 2016 - Colossus with 21,613 entrees
5. 2020 - The Housewarming NLH with 20,080 entrees

 WSOP Events

We examine the significant events and how they did in 2023 compared to 2022. Multiple events show an increase in participants:

• NLH Casino Employees - 22% more entrees.
• Dealers Choice - 6% more entrees.
• Seven Card Stud - 10% more entrees.
• $600/$800 NLH Deepstack - 6.5%/17% more entrees.
• NLH Freezeout - 51% more entrees.

Gladiators of Poker

So far, the most significant highlight of the WSOP is an event that debuted this year, the Gladiators of Poker. Despite being a new event, it boasts the highest number of participants, with 23,088 players pushing the guaranteed prize pool of $3 million to a whopping $5.6 million. With a $300 buy-in, it’s also the cheapest bracelet event in this series.

Mystery Millions

Meanwhile, Mystery Mystery breaks the record as the largest-ever event with a $1,000 buy-in. Around 18,188 players boosted the prize pool to $16.1 million, which means not one but two $1 million top bounties became available. This event showed a 30% increase in entries.

No-Limit Hold’em World Championship

The $10,000 Main Event is the NLH World Championship, which will break the 2006 record of most participants at 8,773 players. This year the Main Event is thought to have well over 9,000 participants, breaking another record.

Participate in Poker Events Online

While not all events saw an increase, like the $5k Mixed Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha and $5k NLH Freezeout events, which decreased by 28% and 3%, an overall 10% increase is recorded. However, you don’t need to be at the Las Vegas Strip to enjoy excellent poker events. RakeRace.com [3] always offers exceptional promotions, like their partypoker $12k rake race [4] and hase/">5% to 15% chase [5]. Join using RakeRace.com and experience more rewards and poker promotions.