WSOP 2024 World Championship Breaks Attendance Record as 10,112 ‘Play the Main’

With a total of $94 million in the prizepool and 3,617 remaining players battling towards the money places, Day 3 won’t tell who is going to win this year’s 2024 Main Event, but it will give us thousands more players who will fall short. As player such as Daniel Negreanu, Dara O’Kearney, current chip leader Alex Livingston and the reigning champion Daniel Weinman all fight to make Day 4, we look back on a record-breaking start to the World Championship.

A Numbers Game

The 2024 WSOP Main Event didn’t initially look like it would break any records for attendance. Day 1a had a modest 915 entrants, from which just 620 players advanced. Day 1b was even quieter, with 831 players putting up the $10,000 entry fee and 616 surviving. Day 1c was more hopeful, as 2,528 players took to the felt, with 1,907 of the making it through to Day 2.

It was on Day 1d that hopes improved that this year might get close if not surpass last year’s remarkable five-figure total of entries. Saturday’s Day 1d flight saw an incredible 5,014 entries (over 3,800 of whom survived), a record for a single day of Main Event buy-ins. That left the total well above 9,200 but that was still well short of last year’s total.

On Day 2abc, the 3,349 players who survived from Day 1a, Day 1b and Day 1c were combined, and they were joined by 206 late registrations as players bought in on Day 2 to bolster the field. Still, it seemed improbable that the 2023 record would be broken. On Day 2d, the early signs were strong, as evidence by the popular poker commentator and writer Kevin ‘Kevmath’ Mathers, who posted a picture from the registration line that stretched all the way to Paris Las Vegas.

Sure enough, trust in Kevmath. Eventually, enough players registered to make the total for this year’s Main Event an incredible 10,112. At the close of Day 2, just 3,617 of them remained in the hunt for the top prize of $10 million and a very special trophy.

How Much Will the WSOP Main Event Champion Win in 2024?

With a total – record – prizepool of $94 million in this year’s Main Event, this year’s winner will actually win less than they did last year. Daniel Weinman took home the biggest top prize in Main Event history in 2023 when he bagged $12.1 million. We took a deep dive into exactly how much each winner in the past decade actually won, but the knocking down of the 2024 top prize to just $10 million is a welcome surprise.

More players will be paid in 2024 and there’s a flatter payout list for final table players, with each of the final nine taking home at least $1 million. Winning it is near-impossible but to cash is very much within the reach of the remaining players on Day 3. A total of 1,517 places will be paid, with a min-cash worth $15,000.

The winner will also receive a groundbreaking new WSOP Main Event bracelet. This year’s design not only includes 2,253 precious gems including diamonds, but also features a detachable golden faceplate that can double as the world champion’s card protector. Props to whoever has the brass stomach on them to use it to protect seven-deuce off at their local casino.

Here’s the world famous WSOP Main Event bracelet in all its glory.

Binion on Hand to Show Off New Bracelet

“Here’s the bracelet – good luck to all of you.”

It was the poker legend and founding father of the game Jack Binion who unveiled the 2024 WSOP world championship bracelet on Day 2 of the Main Event.

“I want to welcome everybody to the World Series of Poker. Here’s the bracelet – good luck to all of you. Should I ask the dealers to start dealing? Dealers, start dealing! Oh…. Shuffle up and deal!”

As Binion left the stage, the players could concentrate on the action and attempt to make Day 3. Chief among the survivors at the close of play was the Canadian player Alex Livingston. Having cashed in third place at the 2019 Main Event final table for $4 million, Livingston will be hoping to finish two places higher and turn a seven-figure win into an eight-figure one this summer.

Will the Poker Boom 2.0 continue in 2024 as the Main Event thrills millions of poker fans around the world? You can guarantee it!