Ivey and Hellmuth draw same Main Event table
A record breaking Day 1C catapulted this year's attendance up to 6,420, leaving a $7.6M prize for this year's world champion.
Following the conclusion of Day 1C earlier today - the tournament's final starting flight - the WSOP has now published its official numbers for this year's Main Event.
A total of 6,420 players anted up the $10,000 entry fee, with Day 1C bringing in a record breaking 3,963 runners on its own.
Although attendance in 2015 is down nearly 4% compared with last year and its well advertised $10M top prize, numbers are up slightly on the 6,352 player field of 2013.
On the felt, 5,000 hopefuls have survived their first day's play, and will now go to war for a share of the $60,348,000 in total prize money, which will be paid out across the top 1,000 finishers.
The eventual winner this year will walk away with $7,680,021, and of course, the championship bracelet.
Clash of the titans
The biggest story emerging from the event so far has been Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth somehow drawing the same table on Day 1C, which also happened to be the largest ever starting flight in Main Event history.
With Hellmuth in Seat 1, Ivey in Seat 6, and winner of this year's $10K Heads-Up Championship Keith Lehr in Seat 8, it's easy to see why this table was quickly dubbed "the toughest at the whole WSOP".
When the table finally broke during the final level of play, all three giants of the game - despite Ivey having to survive a dicey all-in against Hellmuth at one stage - were still alive and went on to see out the remainder of the day.
Lehr (138,600) and Hellmuth (79,725) will both start their respective Day 2 heats with healthy stacks, while Ivey has a more precarious 22,350 chips.
Elsewhere, American John Gorsuch bagged the overall lead having amassed a huge stack of 198,100; fellow Americans Hamid Feiz (182,675) and Zarik Megerdichian (180,400) round out the top 3.
Other notables with big stacks going into Day 2 include past Main Event champions Ryan Reiss (108,800) and Jamie Gold (81,000).
