Record Breaking WSOP Reaps Rewards For Nevada

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Friday, July 18th, 2014 | Written by Charles Washington

Ahead of the 45th Annual World Series of Poker there existed a great deal of anticipation the showcase series would help give Nevada’s nascent online poker industry the much needed boost it so desperately required. Even a week before the first event kicked off at the Rio All-Suite Casino in Las Vegas, PokerScout reported a dramatic rise in traffic, leading Bill Rini, Head of Online Poker for Caesars Interactive Entertainment, to state:

“The traffic increase has been fantastic. Our seven-day moving average numbers moved from about 110 pre-WSOP to 150 at one point. When you consider this is a 24-hour average rather than peak, that’s a pretty big jump. In fact, WSOP.com Nevada has become the largest regulated online poker site [in the country]. Our numbers have exceeded the largest sites in New Jersey which has three times the population of Nevada. So for us, that’s very exciting.”

On July 15th, the tournament series drew to a close after the $10k WSOP Main Event reached its final table of nine, with the players now on a break until November 10th, when an ultimate winner will be crowned. Nevertheless, WSOP.com (Nevada) is still continuing to rank higher than both New Jersey’s Party Borgata (140), and WSOP (130) websites, giving hope to those industry experts which warned Nevada’s previous low traffic numbers may have been a reflection of a lack of product, rather than a lack of liquidity. Of course having thousands of extra tourists descend upon Las Vegas for the WSOP didn’t harm, either, and what follows are some key indicators from the 2014 World Series of Poker, which show why the prestigious tournament series is still a major boon for Nevada’s land-based casinos, as well as its nascent iGaming industry:

Record attendance and prize pool

The 2014 World Series of Poker inspired a record-breaking 82,360 poker players to travel to Nevada and take part in the 65 tournament poker marathon, a figure 3.6% higher than the previous record set in 2013 of 79,471. As a result this year witnessed the biggest prize pool in WSOP history of $225,584,873.

Two stand out events were also responsible for generating almost half this year’s total prize pool, namely the Main Event which had 6,683 entries and a prize pool of $62,820,200; and The Big One For One Drop, which created a prize pool worth $37,333,338. The $1 million buy-in tournament also helped raise $5,260,700 for the ONE DROP charity organization, as a number of wealthy businessmen took the opportunity to compete alongside poker pros, Hollywood stars and sports figures for the massive $15.2 million top prize.

A truly international affair

This year 107 different countries were represented at the Series, with the USA naturally providing the bulk of participants at 78,165 American players, a 21,125 increase year-over-year. Five other countries also has at least 1,000 players represented. Top of the list was Canada with 6,045 players, up from 4,118 last year; The United Kingdom had 2,894 players, up from 2,678 in 2013; France has 1,749 players, up from 1,010; Germany had 1,617, up from around 1,000 in 2013; Russia had 1,370 players, up from 260; and finally, Brazil had 1,057 players this year.

Eventually, countries picking up WSOP bracelets included Germany (4), France (2), Italy, Ukraine, Russia, UK, and Belgium, with Germany’s George Danzer this year’s only multi-bracelet winner. In addition, the Main Event has a distinctly international flavour this year, with just four of the November Nine hailing from the USA, and the others from Holland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Brazil.

Female participation on the rise

WSOP 2014 saw 4,351 women entering the tournament series compared to 3,726 last year, a 10% increase year-over-year. The ladies also enjoyed one of their best ever results, with Vanessa Selbst winning a third bracelet, in so doing becoming the first female to win three open events. Selbst is now placed 21st place overall on poker ‘All Time Money List’ and commenting on her remarkable achievement, said:

“I understand why people want to talk about women and the achievements of women in history that way. Obviously, I would like to be considered in a conversation for the best poker player, not just the best female poker player. I think I’m starting to get there and people are starting to recognize that.”

In addition, Melissa Burr cashed five times this summer, including making three final tables, for a total payout of $280,450.

Overall, the numbers coming from the 45th Annual World Series of Poker gives us a clearer picture as to the strength of the WSOP brand, as well as the continuing popularity of poker worldwide.