Wednesday January 28,2015 : BIG CHANGES AT THIS YEAR'S W.S.O.P.
Big money first prize to give way to more cash winners.
The World Series of Poker has made a change to its pay-out structure for the Main Event, replacing the $10 million first place guarantee in favour of guaranteeing 1,000 places receiving winnings.
“The dream of life-changing money is core to the DNA of the WSOP Main Event and we also want to make it easier to experience playing in poker’s Big Show,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart this week.
“Our players understand numbers, and 2015 now presents the best odds ever to leave the Main Event a winner.”
With a strategy to more broadly distribute the prize pool, the WSOP Main Event will still award a massive prize to its champion. If participation numbers are the same as 2014 (6,683) the 2015 winner would still receive $8,000,000. In addition, all final table participants would receive at least $1 million, with the second and third placed players taking home around $4,663,527 and $3,500,000 respectively.
A WSOP spokesman said that the organisers believe that paying a higher percentage of players in this particular event, (based on last year’s entry figure would be akin to 15 percent of the field – nearly 50 percent more players than previously) will encourage both new and repeat participation for the Main Event, and thus an increased prize pool.
The $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em WSOP Main Event championship runs over ten consecutive days from July 5 – July 14, 2015 and will feature three starting flights – Sunday, July 5; Monday, July 6; and Tuesday, July 7.
The 2014 WSOP attracted 82,360 participants – the largest attendance in the WSOP’s 45-year history – in a total of 65 events, generating a prize pool of more than $227 million. Participants in WSOP events hailed from 110 countries in 2014. The WSOP Main Event, won by Sweden’s Martin Jacobson this year, attracted 6,683 players and awarded Jacobson $10,000,000.
For full monetary estimates on the changes, visit:
http://www.wsop.com/news/2015/Jan/5172/WSOP-Announces-2015-Main-Event-Payout-Change.html