2013 WSOP Day 1C
Tuesday July 9,2013 : WORLD SERIES OF POKER DAY 1C GETS UNDERWAY
1C entry numbers on the low side, but overall the WSOP remains tops as a tournament
Monday saw the start of Day 1C – the third and final registration day for this year's World Series of Poker Main Event – with most of the big names in the game taking their seats, including a surprisingly low-key Phil Hellmuth, who eschewed his usual fancy-dress grand entrance and simply got down to work.
The "Shuffle Up and Deal" call honour was given to former main event champion Chris Moneymaker, an internet amateur who is widely credited with spurring online interest in the game among many younger players.
The Day 1C registrations were on the low side; official numbers released later in the day revealed that 3,467 players had entered which, added to the 2885 already recorded from Days 1A and B would give a total Main Event turnout this year of 6,352.
That has generated a prize pool of $59,708,800, from which this year's winner can expect to win $8,359,531.
When we went to press, play on Day 1C was at level 4 and almost 12 hours into the action, with 1,942 players still in the game as the cut-off point approached. Jeff Madsen had just been busted out, and players were wondering what happened to Tom Dwan, who had entered but appeared to be a no-show.
With all the numbers in for this year's 44th World Series of Poker, the organisers issued an interesting statistical breakdown which can be viewed here: http://www.wsop.com/news/2013/Jul/4486/44th-ANNUAL-WSOP-SETS-ALL-TIME-ATTENDANCE-RECORD.html
The report reveals that total numbers entered for the 2013 main event was 6,352, significantly short of the hoped for 7,000 but still "in range".
Players from106 nations travelled to Las Vegas to compete, building entries in the 62 events to 79,471 and a prize pool that is the second largest in WSOP history at $197,041,468. The total number of entries surpassed by 5 percent the previous record of 75,672 set at the 42nd Annual WSOP in 2011.
In the 44-year history of the WSOP, the prestigious tournament has now awarded more than $1.8 billion in prize money. When added to the previous total — $1,642,409,323 – this year’s massive prize pool brings the new all-time money awarded to $1,839,450,791.
Top international players and celebs were again present this year, creating star A-lists too big to cover in detail.
However, among the players this year were actors Kevin Pollack, Jennifer Tilly, James Woods, Ray Romano, Brad Garret and Jason Alexander; Norwegian snowboard champion Torstein Horgmo; NHL goaltender Roberto Luongo; Olympic skier Petter Northug; Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps; NBA star Paul Pierce; Mixed-Martial Arts champion Georges St. Pierre, and cricket star Shane Warne.
The youngest player in this year’s WSOP Main Event was Rayan Chamas, of Dollard-des Ormeaux, Quebec, Canada, who played Day 1-C of the Main Event and was 21 years, 8 days old. The oldest player to participate in this year’s WSOP was 92-year-old William Wachter of Carmel, New York, who also played Day 1-C of the Main Event.
