Back in February of this year, when the World Series of Poker released its 2023 schedule, one of the brand new tournaments that jumped off the page was the $300 buy-in Gladiators of Poker bracelet event. Not only was this new marquee event the cheapest shot at a gold bracelet in the 54-year history of the WSOP, but it looked like it was designed to break records as the largest event in the Series’ history.
In the end, after four flights that attracted 23,088 total entries and a $5.67M prize pool, the Gladiators of Poker nearly did just that. It finished as the second-largest tournament in the WSOP’s 53 years, finishing just below 2019’s Big 50 – the $500 buy-in opening weekend event that year that drew as astounding 28,371 entries. St. Louis resident Jason Simon topped the Gladiators’ massive field turning his $300 buy-in into a $499,852 score. Billing himself as a mixed games player, Simon’s NLHE skills earned him a spot in history as the inaugural winner of this event, one that is all but certain to make a return in the future.
And as impressive as the registrants for the Gladiators is on its own, it’s a piece of a larger picture for the WSOP which is seeing a considerable uptick in attendees in the early goings of the Series. Right from the outset records were set. The $1,000 Mystery Million and its multiple million-dollar bounties brought in 18,188 entries – the largest WSOP field for a buy-in of $1,000 or more.
The increased turnout can also seen in comparable events year-over-year (location in the schedule varies). The first $2,500 NLHE of the 2023 series (Event #19) drew 1,139 runners, 387 more than 2022 (~ 50% increase). And the first $600 NLHE Deep Stack event saw a 370 entry bump in 2023 as well.,
The larger fields aren’t reserved for NLHE events. This year’s $1,500 Razz which just wrapped up with David ‘ODB’ Baker winning his third career bracelet was the largest Razz event in series history with 556 entries. The $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha event which concluded right before it pulled in 2,071 players, nearly 10% more than last year’s total of 1,891.
Through the first 24 events the 2023 WSOP has seen 63,878 entries total, 17,995 more than the 45,883 at this point in 2022. It’s not completely comparable as, again, the schedule varies, but it does indicate that the WSOP has done a good job this year of bringing people out early and often and can celebrate a nearly 40% bump in attendance in the first two weeks.
All of the basic data bodes well for the WSOP’s ultimate plan to finally break the record for most runners in the $10,000 Main Event which was set back in 2006 with 8,773 runners.