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World Series of Poker -- $50,000 Poker Players Championship Draws Largest Field Since 2008

With 132 Entrants The Eventual Champion Will Earn $1,774,089

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The 2013 World Series of Poker $50,000 Poker Players Championship eight-game mix has drawn a total of 132 entrants, building a total prize pool of $6,336,000. As a result of the solid turnout, the event’s largest since 2008, the eventual champion will earn a first-place prize of $1,774,089 in addition to a WSOP gold bracelet and their name on the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy, named for the late David “Chip” Reese who won the inaugural running of this event in 2006.

“We have been pleasantly surprised with the turnouts in all of our high roller events this year,” said Seth Palansky, Vice President of Corporate Communications for the WSOP and Caesars Interactive Entertainment. “And we are especially happy with the turn out in this event.”

This event has always been highly regarded by its core participants, those professionals who play the highest-stakes games in the world. But in 2009 the event saw a dramatic drop in attendance which was largely attributed to the fact that the event was dropped from ESPN’s TV coverage.

In the years since, the event has recovered, perhaps due to the changing of the format from strictly H.O.R.S.E. to an eight-game mix in 2010. Now known as the Poker Players Championship, the event added triple draw, deuce-to-seven and two big bet games in pot-limit Omaha and no-limit hold’em, which seemingly helped in attracting more players.

Here is a look at this prestigious tournament over its eight-year run so far:

Year Entrants % Increase Prize Pool First Prize Champion
2006 143 N/A $6,864,000 $1,716,000 David “Chip” Reese
2007 148 3.5% $7,104,000 $2,276,832 Freddy Deeb
2008 148 0% $7,104,000 $1,989,120 Scotty Nguyen
2009 95 -35% $4,560,000 $1,276,802 David Bach
2010* 116 22% $5,568,000 $1,559,046 Michael Mizrachi
2011* 128 10% $6,144,000 $1,720,328 Brian Rast
2012* 108 -15.6% $5,184,000 $1,451,527 Michael Mizrachi
2013* 132 22.2% $6,336,000 $1,774,089 TBD

*From 2010 on the event changed from H.O.R.S.E. to an eight-game mix, with it’s name changed to The Poker Players Championship.