May 13, 2015
3 Reasons why 2015 WSOP is guaranteed to be Biggest Ever
By RTR Dennis
2014 was another banner year for the WSOP, as the event set records in overall player attendance (82,360 entries) and prize money ($227,712,923). After a giant year like this, it almost seems like the WSOP can't get any bigger. However, there's always room for improvement, and the 2015 WSOP figures to be the largest poker event ever, due to the following three reasons.
1. The Record for Preregistrations has been smashed
If ever there were a telltale sign that the 2015 WSOP is going to be huge, it's that the preregistration record for the event has been crushed. "We have more preregistration than in the past five years combined," said Executive Director Ty Stewart. Unfortunately, Stewart did not give an exact figure on the number of preregistrations; however, considering how many people have played over the past five years, it's a pretty good bet that the amount of players preregistering is astronomical.
2. The Colossus will be even Larger than Expected
A huge reason why the preregistration record has been set is due to the Colossus, a $500 buy-in tournament with a $5 million guaranteed prize pool. Many poker news outlets already predicted that the Colossus would be the largest poker tournament ever, with around 15,000 players. However, these figures need to be revised in a big way since it's now believed that up to 25,000 players could be seated for the event. Assuming this number is accurate, that would mean a $12.5 million prize pool on the line, which isn't bad for just a $500 buy-in!
3. There'll be More Events than Ever Before
Okay, pretty simple point here, but still one worth mentioning: the 2015 WSOP, with its 68 bracelet events, will feature more tournaments than ever. This is just a matter of more tourneys meaning extra players coming to the Rio. And there'll also be more low buy-in events, which have proven very effective at drawing the crowds. We won't know exactly how large the 2015 WSOP will be until the middle of July. However, based on what's been discussed here, it's almost a given that this year is going to be the biggest in the event's history.