- Even after the disappointing Day 1A result, PRO still expected far north of 1000 entries to the tournament.
- While the final flight on Sunday was the largest of the three, it only just out-pipped Day 1A, bringing in 257 players.
- With $1 million of added money, organizers must have hoped to at least cover this with rake from Main Event entries.
- GGPoker said it had guaranteed at least 500 seats to the Main Event through its satellite system.
- There could be a total of 900 total entries and a prize pool of around $8 million from the two Main Events combined.
- The requirement for the winner to fly to Czechia and Las Vegas may have been a major turn-off.
All three Day 1 flights of the international portion of the official $10,000 WSOP Main Event have finished on global dot-com online poker room GGPoker, attracting a total of 674 players to generate a prize pool of $6.5 million.
As PRO discussed last week, the first of three Day 1 flights attracted 246 players, a surprisingly low number given the draw of the WSOP brand, the unique attraction of the Main Event, and GGPoker’s proven ability to fill seats of high roller tournaments.
Furthermore, while the event has no guarantee, there is an added $1 million in prize money for a separate heads-up tournament to be played live in Las Vegas. This will pit the winner of the international Main Event against the winner of the “domestic” version for the prize.
With all these factors working in its favor, many expected a high turnout. Even after the disappointing Day 1A result, PRO still expected far north of 1000 entries to the tournament.
However, the second and third flights were surprisingly quiet. Day 1B on Saturday attracted just 171 players. While the final flight on Sunday was the largest of the three, it only just out-pipped Day 1A, bringing in a further 257 players.
