Record breaking WSOP Main Event, 10,043 entries, $93M+ prize pool; 678 tables strong; drama erupts over payout distribution

The 54th Annual World Series of Poker has achieved the incredibly challenging task of breaking the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship aka WSOP Main Event record of 8,773 entries set back in 2006. With countless online satellites offered on all the major platforms, and registration open for five hours at each Day 2 flight, it was a slam dunk. This year’s turnout swelled to a jaw-dropping 10,043 players for a massive prize pool of $93,399,000.

In a brief interview with WSOP Vice President, Jack Effel,he shared with Somuchpoker,

“Last year we were approaching 600 tables between the two facilities and we needed even more tables this year to accommodate on some of the days leading up to this moment.”

“It has been a record-breaking summer. We’ve already had several events over 10,000 entries. We even had an event that was over 20,000 entries. It’s definitely the biggest World Series of Poker we’ve ever had and the smoothest we’ve ever had. As we continue to do more and more of these, we are finally getting situated between Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas, and starting to find our groove in our new home. It is just gonna get bigger and better.”

And he wasn’t kidding with the number of tables. The highest table number was #678 (pictured above). At Day 2D on July 8, 2023, after players returned from the dinner break, WSOP Circuit Tour Director Dennis Jones made the official announcement detailing the entries, prize pool, and first place payout of $12,100,000 which was $100K more than Jamie Gold’s $12M takedown. The numbers and payouts were then flashed on the screens for everyone to view. Top 1,507 players get paid with the minimum payout at $15,000.

Drama over the payouts and top 9 distribution

Immediately following the announcement, players dissected the payout distribution. Shortly after, Twitter erupted as players expressed their disappointment. With 15% paid this year, it was expected that the top prize would be less than Jamie Gold’s $12M payout. However that wasn’t the case. Not only were the payouts flattened, the champion was ensured a higher payout of $12.1M, and 9th place $900K.In comparison to 2006, the top 12 won minimum $1,154,527.

Full payouts