Multimillion prize pool finalized for WSOP Main Event

Thousands of players are warring to beryllium the past 1 lasting successful the World Series of Poker Main Event.

Ryan Christopherson has the favoritism of being the past 1 to beryllium down.

Christopherson stretched precocious registration astatine the Main Event to its limits Wednesday afternoon, winning a $2,060 one-hand outer with 4 different players close earlier the introduction deadline connected Day 2.

Now he’s playing successful his archetypal WSOP Main Event.

“Probably would person been smarter conscionable to bargain successful and get successful astatine the start, but I similar to gamble,” Christopherson, of Spokane, Washington, said with a laugh.

The Main Event, the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship, closed registration with 6,650 entries, creating a prize excavation of much than $62 million. First spot volition person $8 million.

The last array of 9 players volition each person astatine slightest $1 million. The apical 1,000 places volition beryllium paid astatine slightest $15,000.

The tract is down 22 percent from the past unrecorded Main Event successful 2019, but that tract of 8,569 was the second-largest successful WSOP history. Hossein Ensan prevailed to triumph $10 million.

The unrecorded WSOP was not held past twelvemonth due to the fact that of the coronavirus pandemic. Damian Salas won a hybrid online/live Main Event, beating a tract of 1,379 entries for $2.55 million.

This year’s tract is the 10th-largest of each time, but the smallest for a unrecorded Main Event since 6,420 successful 2015. Every unrecorded Main Event since 2006 has had astatine slightest 6,300 entries.

This year’s WSOP is being held nether a vaccine mandate, and the U.S. did not loosen planetary question restrictions until Monday.

Christopherson was competing with a fewer others successful the outer country to get into the Main Event tract astatine the past second. They intended to play a one-hand $1,030 satellite, but couldn’t find capable takers. With clip moving out, they agreed to treble the buy-in and play five-handed for $2,060.

“I didn’t truly privation to enactment successful the $2,000, but we couldn’t get 10 guys,” Chrisopherson said. “Those guys truly wanted to bash it, truthful I benignant of felt similar I should.”

The players received their cards, and the trader laid retired a flop, crook and stream with a jack arsenic the highest card. The players decided to uncover their spread cards 1 astatine a time. Christopherson went 2nd and rolled implicit a jack, and nary 1 could bushed it. (His different card, which turned retired to beryllium irrelevant, was a king.)

A WSOP authoritative lasting by said, “Last antheral in!” He gave Christopherson 10,000 successful tourney buy-in chips, past escorted him to the registration area.

The Main Event was finishing the 2nd of 2 Day 2 sessions Wednesday.

Phil Hellmuth, the all-time person with 16 WSOP bracelets, had 119,600 chips astatine the meal break. (The WSOP awards trophy bracelets for tourney victories.)

Doyle Brunson, tied for 2nd with 10 WSOP bracelets, was eliminated precocious connected Tuesday’s Day 2 session. The 88-year-old was seeking his 3rd Main Event title.

All of the remaining tract volition play unneurotic for the archetypal clip connected Day 3 connected Thursday. The players are expected to scope the wealth Friday.

Contact Jim Barnes astatine jbarnes@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV connected Twitter.