The craziest stories from the 2015 WSOP Part 1
With the Main Event in full flow, we look back at some of the strangest, most interesting and most controversial stories from this year's WSOP.
The Colossus is colossal
As predicted, the first ever open bracelet event with a $565 buy-in shattered all previous attendance records.
With four starting flights and a maximum one re-entry per flight, it was a packed affair at the Rio. In total there were 22,374 entries and re-entries.
This created an overall prize pool of $11,187,000, with a first prize of $638,880, which went to Cord Garcia of the US.
.....but with a colossal wait to get paid
With such amazing numbers for this event, everyone expected to have to wait in line, but not after the event.
A software glitch meant that over 1,000 of the players who busted out after making the money were forced to wait up to four hours to collect their winnings.
A min cash was worth at least $1,096 and for many considerably more, as this event had opted for a much flatter payout structure than most usual WSOP events.
Rain inside the Rio
Poker took one step closer to real sport as the World Series of Poker fell victim to heavy rainfall on Day 1B of the $10,000 Main Event.
It's not often the Las Vegas desert has to compete with extreme weather of this kind, and it caused traffic chaos for people travelling to and from the tournament.
Amazingly, the action inside the Rio was also brought to a halt, as rain started to come in from the ceiling of the Brasilia Ballroom about ten minutes before the dinner break. 23 tables in total had to exit the card room early, before being relocated to another room.
It doesn't rain that often in Las Vegas, but when it does. #soaked #WSOP #Showers pic.twitter.com/YzYWZdT9V9
— Chicago Jason Finn (@chicagojason) July 7, 2015
The Super High Roller Bowl
This year One Drop was not the biggest buy-in event of the Summer. That honour went to the $500,000 Super High Roller Bowl at the Aria.
43 players entered the event with a star-studded line up including Daniel Colman, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Galfond, Sam Trickett, Antonio Esfandiari, Ole Schemion, Fedor Holz and Jason Mercier.
It would be former $50,000 Poker Players Championship winner Brian Rast who took it down, defeating Scott Seiver heads-up for the first prize of $7,525,000.
Phil Hellmuth wins bracelet 14
What World Series of Poker would be complete without Phil Hellmuth winning a bracelet?
He bested 102 other players to win the $10,000 Razz Championship for $271,105.
But the smile on Phil's face was all about bracelet number 14, which extends his long-standing record at the World Series. He now has a big lead on Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey, all of whom have ten.
Ivey skips most of the Series
One Phil delighted his fans this year, but for others the absence of Phil Ivey has been something of a sore spot.
This was the first year his lucrative bracelet prop bets dried up and as such, he no longer prioritised playing in WSOP events. This was no surprise to the poker masses, but his absence from the $50,000 Poker Players Championship was a shock.
Ivey finally returned for the $111,111 One Drop High Roller, which be busted very quickly.
Ivey instead spent his time in Macau playing cash games and online (which also didn't go great for him).
Join us later on this week for part 2
