World Series of Poker -- Attendance Numbers Part IV

The full run of preliminary bracelet events is now in the books at the 2011 World Series of Poker at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and total participation in the 57 events that preceded Event No. 58 ($10,000 no-limit hold’em main event) stands at 65,355. Thirty two of 48 preliminary events that were also contested in 2010 saw attendance increases (66.6 percent), while 16 of the 48 events saw a decrease from 2010. There were nine new events this summer.

A collection of attendance records fell throughout the summer while cash game business was up considerably at the Rio and other card rooms in Vegas like the poker room at Aria Hotel and Casino also saw brisk business over the summer.

Here are some new attendance records that fell during the final weeks of the summer at the WSOP:

2011 Largest Mixed Pot-Limit tournament in history (606 entries) – Event No. 39

Biggest Pot-Limit Omaha prize pool in live poker history ($3,393,400) – Event No. 42

All of these numbers are a positive sign for the poker industry coming on the heels of Black Friday on April 15. Still, expectations should be tempered moving forward given the fact that the Department of Justice’s indictment of the major online poker rooms in the U.S. came so close to the World Series. This may have driven many new players to seek out live poker tournaments and cash games since they no longer have the freedom to play online poker in the privacy of their own homes. While this is a good start in the post-Black Friday poker world a better barometer may be taken from late 2011 events and next year’s World Series.

Attendance Rises in 13 Events, and Falls in Six During the Final Preliminary Events

The 2011 WSOP preliminary events ended the summer as strong as they started things off, making this the most successful Series ever in terms of preliminary events. There were 22 events during the final stretch. Attendance rose in 13 of them and fell in six, while three events were brand new for the 2011 WSOP.

Some standouts that grew in a positive direction included the $50,000 Player’s Championship, which was up to 128 players from 116 a year ago. This represented a 9 percent increase in attendance in the most expensive event of the summer.

At the other end of the buy-in scale another tournament raised eyebrows with a large increase in attendance. The final $1,000 no-limit hold’em event of the summer attracted a large field of 4,756 players, making it one of the largest live tournament fields of all time. The tournament attracted 732 more players than last year and grew by 19 percent.

Of the six tournaments that saw attendance drop three of them were no-limit hold’em events. The others were H.O.R.S.E., seven-card Razz, and a limit hold’em shootout event. The biggest loss was seen by a $1,000 no-limit hold’em event that lost 399 players from the previous year (12 percent of the field).

2011 WSOP Final 21 Events Attendance Numbers:

Event No. 36 ($2,500 no-limit hold’em) – 1,734 – players 2010 – 1,942 players (10.7 percent decrease)

Event No. 37 ($10,000 H.O.R.S.E. championship) – 241 players 2010 – 240 players (.004 percent decrease)

Event No. 38 ($1,500 no-limit hold’em) – 2,192 players 2010 – 2,394 players (8 percent decrease)

Event No. 39 ($2,500 pot-limit hold’em/Omaha) – 606 players 2010 – 482 players (26 percent increase)

Event No. 40 ($5,000 six-handed no-limit hold’em) – 732 players 2010 – 568 players (29 percent increase)

Event No. 41 ($1,500 limit hold’em shootout) – 538 players 2010 – 548 players (2 percent decrease)

Event No. 42 ($10,000 pot-limit Omaha championship) – 361 players 2010 – 346 players (4 percent increase)

Event No. 43 ($1,500 no-limit hold’em) – 2,857 players 2010 – 2,521 players (13 percent increase)

Event No. 44 ($2,500 seven-card razz) – 363 players 2010 – 365 players (.005 percent decrease)

Event No. 45 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em) – 2,890 players 2010 – 3,289 players (12 percent decrease)

Event No. 46 ($10,000 six-handed no-limit hold’em championship) – 474 players (This is a new event for the 2011 WSOP)

Event No. 47 ($2,500 Omaha/seven-card stud eight-or-better) – 450 players (This is a new event for the 2011 WSOP)

Event No. 48 ($1,500 no-limit hold’em) – 2,713 players 2010 – 2,543 players (7 percent increase)

Event No. 49 ($2,500 deuce-to-seven triple draw lowball) – 309 players 2010 – 291 players (6 percent increase)

Event No. 50 ($5,000 triple chance no-limit hold’em) – 817 players (This is a new event for the 2011 WSOP)

Event No. 51 ($1,500 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better) – 946 players 2010 – 847 players (12 percent increase)

Event No. 52 ($2,500 mixed hold’em) – 580 players 2010 — 453 players (28 percent increase)

Event No. 53 ($1,000 ladies no-limit hold’em championship) – 1,055 players 2010 — 1,054 players (extremely slight percent increase)

Event No. 54 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em) – 4,576 players 2010 – 3,844 players (19 percent increase)

Event No. 55 ($50,000 Player’s Championship) – 128 players 2010 – 116 players (9 percent increase)

Event No. 56 ($1,500 no-limit hold’em) – 3,389 players 2010 – 3,097 players (9 percent increase)

Event No. 57 ($5,000 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better) – 352 players 2010 – 284 players (24 percent increase)

2011 WSOP Statistics – Full Preliminary Event Totals:

NOTE: Stats provided by WSOP.

Through the conclusion of Event No. 57 the 2011 WSOP has attracted 65,335
combined total entries. $122,078.705 in prize money has been awarded to winners.

Through the conclusion of this tournament, the breakdown of nationality of gold bracelet winners has been:

United States (37)
Canada (5)
Ukraine (4)
France (4)
Great Britain (3)
Russia (3)
Brazil (1)
Pakistan (1)
Sweden (1)

Through the conclusion of this tournament, the national origin (birthplace) of winners has been:

United States (33)
Canada (5)
Ukraine (4)
France (4)
Great Britain (3)
Russia (3)
Israel (1)
Honduras (1)
Indonesia (1)
Germany (1)
Brazil (1)
Pakistan (1)
Sweden (1)

Through the conclusion of this tournament, the home-states of (American) winners have been:

California (7)
New York (6)
Nevada (6)
Texas (3)
Florida (2)
Illinois (2)
Connecticut (2)
New Jersey (1)
Tennessee (1)
Indiana (1)
Maryland (1)
Virginia (1)
Michigan (1)
North Dakota (1)
Washington (1)
Ohio (1)

Through the conclusion of this tournament, the breakdown of professional poker players to semi-pros and amateurs who won gold bracelets has been:

Professional Players (44): Jake Cody, Cheech Barbaro, Eugene Katchalov, Allen Bari, Harrison Wilder, Matt Perrins, Sean Getzwiller, Viacheslav Zhukov, David Diaz, Andrew Badecker, Tyler Bonkowski, Brian Rast (2 wins), John Juanda, Aaron Steury, Darren Woods, Jason Somerville, Bertrand Grospellier, John Monnette, Elie Payon, Mark Radoja, ChrisViox, Dan Idema, Andy Frankenberger, Chris Lee, Sam Stein, Mark Schmid, Jason Mercier, Mikhail Lakhitov, Fabrice Soulier, Mitch Schock, Matt Jarvis, Justin Pechie, Ben Lamb, Rep Porter, Andre Akkari, Joe Ebanks, Lenny Martin, Athanasios Polychronopoulos, Antonin Teisseire, Matt Matros, Marsha Wolak. Maxim Lykov, Nick Binger

Semi-Pros (6): Sean R. Drake, Amir Lehavot, Oleksii Kovalchuk, Eric Rosawig, Arkadiy Tsinis, Alexander Anter

Amateurs (7): Geffrey Klein, Foster Hays, James Hess, Kirk Caldwell, Ken Griffin, Owais Ahmed, David Singontiko

Since tracking first started in 2005, this year’s WSOP has the greatest disparity of professionals winning over semi-pros and amateurs than any year recorded, so far – with 50 out of 57 events being won by pros or semi-pros.

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