The 44th Annual WSOP Gets Off To A Flying Start

The 44th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) is well under way now, and already there have been five bracelets handed out in the first six days of action. The first five bracelets were all awarded to first time winners, and the first six days of action in Nevada have seen records being broken across the board.

As per usual the Casino Employees No Limit Hold-em (NLHE) Event got the action started and in total 898 players took to the tables at the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino. Chad Holloway was the eventual winner, beating Allan Kwong to the first prize of $84,915, though Kwong walked away with $52,318 for his troubles. In total the 898 players generated a prize pool of $404,100 with a total of 90 players being awarded a cash prize.

Event number two was the Eight Handed $5,000 NLHE and a total of $2,260,700 was shared out amongst the top 56 players of a 481 strong field. Trevor Pope came out on top claiming $553,906 and a coveted WSOP Bracelet, and in total the top five players all walked away with prize money well in excess of $100,000.

Event three saw the largest number of players so far, with 3,164 competing in the $1,000 NLHE Re-buy. Charles Sylvestre took down the first prize of $491,360, and in total 324 players were awarded a cash prize. Event four was won by John Beauprez, who took home a cool $324,764 after an initial outlay of just $1,500. Event five was the $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or Better, an event that saw professional poker player Mike Gorodinsky claim the bracelet and first prize of $216,988.

Event six started on Saturday 1st June and a record number of entrants started out in search of the $1,198,780 first prize. Such was the demand for places the organisers were forced to add an extra day to the event, and they were even forced to cancel one of the Daily Deepstack tournaments too. The event is still taking place, but we will of course bring you news of the winners as the event unfolds.

So all in all things are looking good for this years event with record numbers already in attendance, and if things carry on in the same vein over the next few weeks it promises to be a great year for all concerned with the WSOP.