The 'Colossus' Might Already Be The Largest Live Poker Event In History Thanks To Pre-Registration

The Colossus doesn’t start for 17 days, but on paper it could already be the largest live poker tournament in the history of the card game.

According to WSOP organizers in a media conference call on Tuesday, pre-registration has been so huge that the event, which has a $5 million guaranteed prize pool, might already have more entries than the 2006 main event, which officially still holds the record with 8,773.

A competitor in the Colossus could pony up the $565 buy-in as many as four times, given the re-entry nature of the tournament over the two starting days (May 29-30). No one knows yet if the Colossus will have as many uniques as the 2006 main event, but it will have more entries.

“If [the Colossus] is not the largest live event in the history of poker by a large margin it would be a disappointment,” WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart said.

The current record for a live re-entry tournament was last year’s $1,500 buy-in “Millionaire Maker” which drew 7,977 entries. Each player in that event could re-enter just once. There were 5,044 unique players in the 2014 Millionaire Maker.

Even though pre-registration has been very successful for the Colossus, it’s impossible to predict how large the event will eventually become. According to Caesars VP of Corporate Communications Seth Palansky, most of the those who have pre-registered so far have just signed up for one buy-in, less for two, even less for three and the smallest chunk of pre-registrants for all four flights. “Until they play and survive, you don’t know a real number,” Palansky said.

Players will be refunded for additional entries already purchased if they don’t need them.

The WSOP is anticipating a lot of new poker players will be competing in the Colossus, given its price point and massive guarantee. Since new players won’t be as familiar as experienced WSOP players with the process of registering in person and taking a seat at their tables, the WSOP said it has taken every step necessary to ensure the largest event in history runs smoothly.

“We have special staff training sessions; we’re bringing in several additional customer service staffers, and we’re bringing in cashiers from around the city who are experienced, and so on,” Palansky told Card Player. “We have left no stone unturned. In our view, we have had the same capacity in the Rio Convention Center for the past few years, and we will be max-staffed to handle every seat and table being occupied during these days. We will be ready.”

The WSOP’s only concern is the last flight on the last starting day—Flight D on Saturday, May 30. It will be everyone’s last chance to enter the historic tournament.

“The expectation is the event will have swelled so huge, that everyone will want to play that last flight if they haven’t survived with chips,” Palansky said. “That will be the challenge. Capacity exists obviously; we’ll attempt to seat everyone in the waves we’ve laid out. The question is: How many will want to play that last flight?”

In March, the WSOP announced that roughly 24,200 players is the maximum it could support for the Colossus. On Tuesday, the WSOP said that there’s plenty of seats still available.

If you are wondering why the largest event of the summer in terms of field size is being held during the first weekend of the 2015 WSOP, the answer is actually pretty simple.

“We feel if the city is full of poker players at the beginning of the summer it is good for the Series overall,” Stewart said.

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