The biggest stories of 2023 - A record breaking Main Event
10,043 players with $10,000 came together to make history this summer in Las Vegas.
As we look ahead to 2024, Barry Carter recaps some of the biggest poker stories of 2023.
We all knew this was going to happen. After almost breaking the WSOP attendance record in 2022, we knew the poker world and the WSOP themselves were going to come together to make the biggest Main Event in history. But it is still one of the biggest stories of the year.
With 8,663 runners in 2022 and the 2006 record standing at 8,772, most people were taking the over at 9,000. That goal number was decimated and a staggering 10,043 players ponied up $10,000 to play in the World Series of Poker Main Event.
This is how the Day 1s compared to 2022 to get there:
| Day | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1A | 900 | 1,080 |
| Day 1B | 880 | 1,118 |
| Day 1C | 1,800 | 3,080 |
| Day 1D | 4,481 | 4,072 |
| Day 2 | 602 | 693 |
How did we reach such a gargantuan number? The short answer is live poker has been booming since the pandemic and 2023 was the first year without any major travel restrictions due to COVID. Lots of people found the game during lockdown and perhaps more crucially a lot of people came back to poker during this time.
GGPoker and the WSOP also put a shift in to make this happen. GG sent 744 online qualifiers to the Main Event, a number which is huge in the current poker landscape. The WSOP also ran a 'Main Event Seat for Life' promotion for anyone who played in the big one this year.
In the end, Daniel Weinman won the biggest prize in Main Event history, bagging $12,100,000 and the bracelet.
The WSOP Main Event has competition these days from events like the WPT World Championship and the PSPC, but the smart money is on this event breaking the record again in 2024.
| Place | Player | Country | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Daniel Weinman | United States | $12,100,000 |
| 2nd | Steven Jones | United States | $6,500,000 |
| 3rd | Adam Walton | United States | $4,000,000 |
| 4th | Jan-Peter Jachtmann | Germany | $3,000,000 |
| 5th | Ruslan Prydryk | Ukraine | $2,400,000 |
| 6th | Dean Hutchison | United Kingdom | $1,850,000 |
| 7th | Toby Lewis | United Kingdom | $1,425,000 |
| 8th | Juan Maceiras Lapido | Spain | $1,125,000 |
| 9th | Daniel Holzner | Italy | $900,000 |
Will 2024 be even bigger? Let us know in the comments:
