The 2025 World Series of Poker has officially wrapped, and while all eyes were on the record prize pools and Main Event drama, the numbers behind the scenes are just as staggering. With hundreds of thousands of entries, millions in rake collected, and thousands of staff hired, this year’s WSOP was not just a poker spectacle, it was a financial powerhouse.

The series reached its dramatic peak with Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi winning the $10,000 Main Event for a life-changing $10 million payday. Having already shipped the prestigious $50,000 Poker Players Championship in this year’s edition (four in total), Mizrachi’s Main Event triumph made him only the second player in history to win both marquee events, but the first to do so in a single series.

In recognition of this rare achievement, he was instantly inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, with Nick Schulman already announced as the 2025 inductee.

His win marked the 38th time an American player claimed the Main Event title and the 44th American victory overall, as four players have won it more than once.

A Closer Look at the Numbers: Fees, Payouts & Profit

While the spotlight naturally shines on the $10 million first-place prize and other eye-catching payouts, what WSOP collected and where that money went is equally noteworthy.

Across 100 live bracelet events held at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, WSOP collected a staggering $528 million in total buy-ins. From this, $481 million was returned to players in the form of prize money, while $47 million was retained as tournament fees.

Of that $47 million:

  • $32.8 million was kept by WSOP (the organizers)
  • $14 million was distributed to staff and dealers

According to one source, approximately 1,700 dealers were hired to work the series. That suggests an average payout of over $8,000 per dealer across seven weeks, though, of course, the actual distribution likely varied depending on role, shifts, and tenure.

On top of the live events, officials hosted 30 online bracelet events on the WSOP Online platform, generating an additional $30 million in prize money and about $3 million in rake. When combined, the total payout across all 130 bracelet events — live and online — topped $511 million, making 2025 the richest WSOP in history.

WSOP 2025 Live Series Stats:

  • Live Bracelets: 100
  • Prize Pool Awarded: $481.7M
  • Total Entries: 246,960
  • Entry Fees Collected: $32.9M
  • Dealers/Staff: $14M
  • Total Fees Collected: $47M
  • Total Buy-ins Collected: $527M

WSOP 2025 Online Bracelet Series Stats:

  • Bracelet Events: 30 (29 completed)
  • Prize Pool Awarded: $29.8M
  • Total Entries: 50,461
  • Rake Collected: $3M

Participation Surges Again, But with a Caveat

Player turnout also reached record highs. The 100 live bracelet events drew nearly 247,000 entries, and the 30 online events added over 50,000 entries, bringing the total to nearly 297,000 entries across the series.

By comparison, the 2024 WSOP featured 99 live bracelets and generated $437 million from over 228,000 entries. Online bracelets that year also drew fewer entries, 44,600, despite generating a similar prize pool of $30 million, but this year, Pennsylvania online poker players were also included.

By the time the 89th live bracelet event of 2025 concluded, the series had already surpassed 2024’s total prize pool.

However, there is more to the story. Much of this year’s increase can be attributed to structural changes: additional starting flights, more events allowing re-entries, a drop in freezeouts and the introduction of the WSOP Plus app to the Las Vegas edition. While overall entries rose, unique player counts declined, a trend reflected in the Main Event turnout, which failed to beat last year’s record.

A full breakdown of unique entries versus re-entries is not yet available, but early signs suggest that the growth was driven more by format changes, increased engagement through the WSOP+ app, and possibly a rise in cryptocurrency-fueled participation, rather than a significant expansion of the overall player base.

WSOP Surpasses $5 Billion

Regardless of structural nuances, there is no denying that 2025 was a historic year for the WSOP. With over $480 million awarded, $47 million in fees collected, and a record amount of money paid to staff and dealers, this year’s series has cemented its place in the record books.

Even more impressively, the WSOP has now surpassed $5 billion in lifetime prize money awarded across 2,000+ bracelet events over 56 editions, with more than 2.3 million total entries.

WSOP All-Time Stats:

  • Prize Money Awarded: $5.2 billion
  • Entries: 2.5 million
  • Main Event Entries: 159,315
  • No. of Bracelets: 2070

What’s Next?

WSOP 2026 is already locked in for late May next year, returning once again to Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, though dates are obviously not yet announced. But before that, fans and players have two more major stops on the calendar: