EPT, WPT and WSOP are attracting record fields
A rising tide has lifted all ships as we are seeing record fields across the globe this week in poker.
When the WSOP and GGPoker announced WSOP Paradise to clash with EPT Prague and the WPT World Championship, it looked like a zero-sum battle. Any WSOP Paradise player cannot realistically play the other two events, after all.
It appears that instead, a rising tide has lifted all ships as, amazingly, all three festivals have attracted huge fields.
EPT Prague has attracted a record-setting field of 4,403 in the Eureka Main Event there, up from 4,017 last year. PokerStars were thought to be the big victim in this Mexican standoff between operators, but instead, they appear to have capitalised on the European market.
No overlays this week?
The Mystery Millions was close, but WSOP Paradise is beating all its guarantees at the time of writing. The Main Event looks poised to beat the $15 million guarantee, albeit thanks to online legs before the festival started.
Perhaps most impressive of all, the $1,100 WPT Prime Championship has attracted a staggering field of 10,512, which is the biggest $1k field in poker history and boasts a first prize of $1,386,280. The smart thinking was that most players would play WSOP Paradise and then head to Vegas for the WPT Championship, but it appears players in their thousands went straight to the Wynn.
Live poker is booming and, right now at least, live poker looks too big to fail. The increased competition from GGPoker and the WSOP this winter has seemingly increased interest in poker all around the globe. Last month I predicted overlays in the big Main Events this week, but now I think we won't see any.
Long may it continue.
Will we see a major overlay this week? Let us know in the comments:
