The World Series of Poker announced on Tuesday that it has altered the payout structure of its flagship $10,000 Main Event. The world's most prestigious poker tournament will no longer feature a $10 million guarantee top prize, instead guaranteeing 1,000 places in the money receiving at least $15,000.
In one he claimed nearly $120,000 in prize money. “He was ahead of the curve back then,” says Michael Weyer, who came in second to Postle in a 2005 tournament. “He didn't amass that amount. Play Free Poker on Vegas World. Play free Poker with friends and win big! Have a winning poker hand? Win tons of Coins. Use your Gems to get Good Luck Charms, which boost your coin winnings from playing free Poker in Vegas World. Play multiple rounds of Poker, treat each other to special food and drink Charms, and have fun! The World Series of Poker features nearly 70 distinct tournaments, each with its own buy-in. The Colossus event, which has the smallest buy-in of the Series, offers players a seat for just $565. The most famous WSOP tournament is the No-Limit Hold’em Main Event, which has a $10,000 buy-in. Hossein Ensan won the the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event late Tuesday night in Las Vegas, earning himself $10 million and the prestigious bracelet to go with it. ‘Jeopardy!’ champ James Holzhauer finishes out of money at World Series of Poker debut By Associated Press. Reach the top 281 finishers who will win shares of some $2.5 million in prize money.
'The dream of life-changing money is core to the DNA of the WSOP Main Event and we also want to make it easier to experience playing in poker’s Big Show,' said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. 'Our players understand numbers, and 2015 now presents the best odds ever to leave the Main Event a winner.'
Last year's $10 million guaranteed top prize was met with criticism from many in the poker community who argued that the steep payout negatively affected the rest of the payouts. Eventual champion Martin Jacobson collected the $10 million prize in November, while runner-up Felix Stephensen received just over half that amount ($5,145,968). Mark Newhouse, who finished ninth for the second straight year, took home $730,725.
This year, assuming the Main Event draws more entrants, every player at the final would make $1 million. Using the 2014 Main Event entry number of 6,683, the 2015 Main Event payout structure would look like this:
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1st | $8,000,000 |
| 2nd | $4,663,527 |
| 3rd | $3,500,000 |
| 4th | $2,750,000 |
| 5th | $2,000,000 |
| 6th | $1,500,000 |
| 7th | $1,250,000 |
| 8th | $1,100,000 |
| 9th | $1,000,000 |
| 10th-12th | $550,000 |
| 50th | $142,500 |
| 100th | $50,000 |
| 500th | $20,850 |
| 693rd | $16,750 (last year’s last paid place) |
| 694th-1,000th place | $15,000 |
*Please note that the table above is just a sample of certain payouts levels from the WSOP. This is just an example of some of the payout levels.
The 46th Annual WSOP will run from May 27 through July 14, featuring more than 60 gold bracelet events at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. As always, the series will culminate with the $10,000 Main Event running from Sunday, July 5 until the November Nine is determined on July 14.
The complete schedule for the 2015 WSOP is expected to be announced this week, so stay tuned to PokerNews.com!
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World Series Of Poker Prize Money
The $5,000 buy-in Main Event of the World Series of Poker international series wrapped up on Saturday night with the top 4 finishers all taking home more than $1 million in prize money. With the typical World Series of Poker in Las Vegas postponed this year the action moved online and the World Series of Poker international series Main Event had a total prize pool of $27,559,500.
There were 5,802 buy-ins into the $5,000-entry Main Event. Notable entries included PSG star and Brazilian soccer phenom Neymar Jr. and former heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe.
The final heads-up pairing came down to Bulgaria’s Stoyan Madanzhiev against Wenling Gao of China. On the final hand of the Main Event, Stoyan Madanzhiev flopped a straight which took down Gao’s pocket aces which is an absolutely brutal way to get knocked out heads-up. Looking down and seeing AA you think you are absolutely money and then your opponent flops a straight and poof, you’re gone.
For his second-place finish, Wenling Gao won $2.7 million. Not bad. Stoyan Madanzhiev took home a record $3.9 million for first place, the ‘largest prize in online poker history’. American Tyler Rueger won $1.9 million for 3rd place and New Zealand’s Thomas Ward brought home $1.35 million for his 4th place finish.
‘Poker Brat’ Phil Hellmuth busted in 750th right before the money bubble. In total, 728 spots were paid out across the $27,559,500 prize pool. There were three Americans at the final table with the other two, Tyler Cornell and Sam Taylor, finishing 8th and 9th respectively for $328,305 and $230,395.
In the final hand, 2nd place finisher Wenling Gao got all his chips in with AcAd only to see her opponent (yes, her) call with 7d6h. At that moment he had his opponent completely dominated. But Bulgaria’s Stoyan Madanzhiev miraculously flopped a 7-high straight and held on to win 1st place.
According to ESPN’s Chalk, some American participants moved internationally for this event which also allowed them to buy-in multiple times in the early stages:
The international series was hosted on GGPoker.com after the coronavirus pandemic forced the traditional World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas to be postponed. There were 5,802 entries into the $5,000 buy-in main event, creating a $27.6 million prize pool, the largest in online poker history.
Players were allowed to buy in three times during the early rounds of the main event and were required to be physically located in a jurisdiction that allowed online poker. Tournament officials said some American participants relocated to Mexico or Canada to take part in the tournament.
The main event was narrowed to 38 players entering Saturday’s final round. American Bryan Piccioli had the chip lead entering the final round but finished 23rd.
It’s certainly a bummer not having the usual World Series of Poker footage on ESPN this year. It’s been a staple of Summer television for most of my life and watching these tournaments unfold online just doesn’t offer even a fraction of the same entertainment for me.
The official in-person 2020 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas hasn’t been rescheduled yet and with this year waning down they’re running out of time. Next year seems likely (to me) at this point.
World Series Of Poker Prize Money 2019
For more on this largest win in online poker history, you can head on over to ESPN’s Chalk.