WSOP 2023: World Championship Breaks Attendance Record as Over 9,350 Play the Main Event

The 2006 record has finally been broken. Across five levels of action each lasting 120 minutes, the attendance record of 8,773 was smashed to pieces as players flooded into seats at the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos in Sin City. The gambling capital of the world was the talk of the entire globe as a 17-year record was not just surpassed but left in the rear-view by some way. At the start of this year’s 54^th annual World Series, a few were calling it: the second Poker Boom is here.

After Day 1d of the 2023 WSOP Main Event, everyone is saying it.

Hellmuth Arrives as Showman, Brings the Circus

The final Day 1 flight may not have been the end of the registrations in this year’s $10,000-entry Main Event, but it was easily the most important. Players can still enter the World Championship up the end of the first two levels on Day 2, but the bulk of the entries came on the final Day 1 and what a day it was.

Players piled into both the Horseshoe and Paris casinos in Las Vegas, easily surpassing the 2006 record and by the close of play, an estimated 9,350 players had punched their tickets, with over 4,100 players on the day.

Of them, the chip leader – and overall leader across all four opening flights – was Nicholas Rigby. Known for playing deuce-three offsuit in 2019, the hand that was nicknamed the ‘Dirty Diaper’, Rigby amassed 408,000 chips by the end of Day 1d and having finished 52^nd four years ago, could not have made a better start in his bid to go further this year.

Other big names did well, but there was no bigger name in the game than Phil Hellmuth and he made the grandest of entrances. Leading Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates in via a cage, with Cates dressed head to toe in the guise of a lion – the ‘King of the Jungle’? – Hellmuth was resplendent in top hat, red jackets and tails.

The Poker Brat was followed into the arena by 17 models each holding up a numbered ‘scorecard’ that corresponded to one of his record 17 bracelet victories, with the most recent coming just the other day. Hellmuth made Day 2 in great shape, bagging up 108,500 chips but Cates was unable to ‘follow the master’ into the next day’s play, busting just after the dinner break.

Other Big Stacks

Former world champions Joe Hachem (125,300), Qui Nguyen (121,800), Scotty Nguyen (8,400) and Chris Moneymaker (143,100) all survived in various states of chip health, with Moneymaker opening the official show by telling dealers to “Shuffle Up and Deal”.   

Plenty of other stars of the felt bagged not only above average stacks but ones that will surely set them in good contention for a deep run and a shot at the title. Brittney Stout (375,500) wasn’t far behind Rigby, with Neel Murthy (323,100), Chris ‘Big Huni’ Hunichen (321,000), and Brandon Mincher (317,000) all near the top too.

Chance Kornuth ended the day 15^th in chips with a stack of 241,500, while Men ‘The Master’ Nguyen (221,000) also finished inside the top 20. Viktor Blom, who shared the felt with Phil Hellmuth art the feature table, ended the day on an above-average pile of 104,100.

Jungleman was left asking a very open question as he busted.

One of the more bizarre attempts at a handshake came from two men used to doing it fairly often. Rock, paper, scissors… fistbump, anyone?

Phil Helmuth had a largely enjoyable day, from arriving as a ringmaster to largely being in control of the circus. He made a pile with pocket sixes on the PokerGO Stream…

.. but Hellmuth unleashed his inner ‘Poker Brat’ after this cold deck.

Finally, spare a thought / enjoy a laugh as this player loses their stack in the very first hand of the day!

Originally Appeared on Pokerstake.com