13 Staggering Stats from 47 Years of the WSOP

How well do you know your World Series of Poker history?

After 47 years the fabled series, as you might imagine, has produced a truly mind-boggling array of facts and numbers.

As we’re about to embark on another incredible WSOP in 2017, with its own historical poker moments set to play out before us, here’s a look back at some of the more incredible feats accomplished over the years.

1. From 1 to 85 in 47

One event; no buy-in, no actual poker. Just a vote amongst themselves for the best player. That was the whole World Series of Poker in 1970. Johnny Moss won that vote back then.

One year later actual poker tournaments were introduced to the WSOP and Moss proved to be a worthy elected champion as he won the Main Event in 1971, which back then had a buy-in of $5,000. Only six players participated.

Beginning in 1972 the Main Event had a buy-in of $10,000 – a number that has not changed since. Each year multiple side events have been added/held.

The total number of events grew to 70 in 2016. This year 74 events will be played in Las Vegas (including 3 online bracelet events on WSOP Poker) plus 11 events in Europe for a total of 85 bracelet events.

Not only has number of events grown, so has the number of players. Six entries in 1970 became thousands of entries in the nineties.

Over 50,000 entries followed the poker boom in 2005 and the totals soared over 100,000 in the past two years.

It goes without saying that the prizes increased tremendously alongside. Just $70,000 was distributed in 1971; now players battle for a quarter of a billion dollars in one year.

Here’s how the number of players, tournaments and prize money have developed over the years:

Year	Events	Entries	Rebuys	Prize Pool
1970	1	6	0	$0
1971	5	46	0	$70,000
1972	2	10	0	$100,000
1973	7	89	0	$275,000
1974	6	106	0	$427,000
1975	5	124	0	$338,000
1976	8	198	0	$480,900
1977	13	324	0	$675,580
1978	11	294	0	$776,180
1979	12	421	0	$1,030,320
1980	12	846	0	$1,788,400
1981	13	876	0	$1,881,650
1982	14	1,199	0	$2,573,600
1983	14	1,442	0	$2,709,860
1984	13	1,513	0	$3,424,700
1985	13	1,939	0	$3,554,000
1986	13	1,993	0	$4,331,900
1987	12	1,793	0	$4,757,010
1988	12	2,247	0	$5,350,500
1989	14	2,611	0	$6,237,100
1990	15	2,746	0	$6,871,300
1991	18	3,122	0	$7,841,000
1992	20	3,061	0	$7,769,000
1993	21	3,109	0	$8,023,957
1994	22	3,850	117	$9,844,500
1995	24	4,146	205	$10,701,000
1996	24	4,267	266	$11,647,000
1997	21	4,053	279	$12,259,000
1998	21	4,101	206	$12,482,000
1999	16	3,755	62	$11,803,000
2000	24	4,780	238	$15,387,500
2001	26	5,912	267	$17,789,321
2002	35	7,256	107	$19,595,930
2003	36	7,572	293	$21,788,660
2004	33	13,036	1,379	$45,971,010
2005	43	31,714	4,898	$105,955,238
2006	46	48,041	3,833	$157,875,975
2007	58	54,967	5,256	$169,966,400
2008	60	60,043	6,599	$192,307,035
2009	63	62,287	0	$183,109,814
2010	64	74,576	0	$197,207,988
2011	65	78,298	0	$206,186,853
2012	69	76,733	0	$230,521,146
2013	76	83,393	0	$221,047,100
2014	76	84,648	0	$235,621,262
2015	79	108,556	0	$218,168,749
2016	70	107,850	2	$248,312,255

* All WSOP Events including WSOP Europe and WSOP APAC.

Below is how this looks in a chart. Can you guess when the poker boom was?

2. 1 Million Players, 1k Bracelet Winners

Let’s quickly add up all those numbers to get an impression of how inconceivably huge the WSOP has become over the years.

• 1,325 Events
• 963,644 Entries
• $2,626,823,144 distributed
• 991 different bracelet winners

This means that at some point during the next month the WSOP will register its 1 millionth tournament entry and we will see the 1,000th person to win a bracelet. And, of course, dozens of people will win millions of dollars again.

3. 10 Gs Ain’t What It Used To Be

$10,000. That’s how much is costs to play the World Series of Poker Main Event.

That number has stayed the same for 46 years now. But back in the early 70’s that same $10k bought a lot more than you can buy with it today.

Granted, 10 grand is still a huge amount of money to most. But going by the US consumer index, the inflation adjusted value for the Main Event buy-in in 1972 is $57,297 in today’s dollars.

This explains why many professionals regard the $50k Players Championship Event, which was introduced in 2006. as the ‘real’ players Main Event in recent years

For players like Negreanu, Hellmuth and Holz the $10k is more like petty cash, anyway.

4. 29 Years and Counting

Let’s move on to some player stats and the players with the best results over the years at the WSOP.

Of course there’s always Phil Hellmuth, who’s won a record-breaking 14 gold bracelets and cashed 119 times – more than anyone else.

But which player has cashed the most years in a row? It’s not Hellmuth.

While Hellmuth has cashed in 27 different years, and at least once per year since 1996, there are several players even more consistent.

Right now two players share the record of most years cashed in a row. Berry Johnston cashed every year from 1982 until 2010 – that’s 29 years!

Mike Sexton currently holds the same record. Starting in 1988 he’s cashed at least once every year since.

If Sexton survives at least one bubble this year he’ll become the record holder with 30 years cashed in a row.

Players with Most Years Cashed in a Row

Player	Years	First	Last
Berry Johnston	29	1982	2010
Mike Sexton	29	1988	2016
Erik Seidel	26	1991	2016
John Anthony Cernuto	25	1992	2016
T.J. Cloutier	21	1987	2007
Phil Hellmuth Jr	21	1996	2016
Chris Bjorin	20	1994	2013
Dan Heimiller	20	1997	2016

* Players in bold can extend their record this year.

5. The Curious Case of Bill Boyd

Cashing many years in a row is one thing. Winning a bracelet in multiple consecutive years is a much tougher task. It’s so tough, in fact, that only two players have managed to win a bracelet four years in a row.

There’s Doyle Brunson, who won two bracelets in 1976 (one being the Main Event), two more in 1977 (defending his Main Event title), one bracelet in 1978 and another in 1979.

In 1980 he barely missed his next bracelets; he finished 2nd in the Main Event and 2nd in the $10k Lowball event.

And then there’s Bill Boyd. He, too, won a bracelet four years in a row. But his titles were impressive on another scale.

For one thing, Boyd has cashed exactly 4 times at the WSOP – and won all 4 times. Two bracelets were quite peculiar.

According to the Hendon Mob Database Boyd won the 1972 5-Card-Stud Event by beating exactly one opponent. In 1973 he won the same event – this time without an opponent at all.

Back then winning bracelets really was easier than today.

Multiple players have won a bracelet 3 years in a row, most notably the two Mizrachi brothers, Michael and Robert. The latter even has the chance to extend this streak if he wins a bracelet this year.

Rob won the Dealers Choice Event in 2014, the small Omaha-8 Event in 2015 and the big Stud Championship in 2016.

Table – Most Years in a Row Winning at Least One Bracelet

Player	Years	First	Last
Doyle Brunson	4	1976	1979
Bill Boyd	4	1971	1974
Allen Cunningham	3	2005	2007
Erik Seidel	3	1992	1994
Matt Matros	3	2010	2012
Robert Mizrachi	3	2014	2016
Michael Mizrachi	3	2010	2012
Johnny Moss	3	1974	1976
Gary Berland	3	1977	1979
Lakewood Louie	3	1978	1980

6. 41 years: The WSOP Grand Elders

While the World Series has its 48th instalment this year, no single player has been part of the Series for every year since its inauguration.

Doyle Brunson was one of the players who elected Johnny Moss in 1970 and he’s still around. But Brunson stopped playing the WSOP 4 years ago.

Nevertheless Brunson still holds the record for the longest time-span between his first and his last cash at the WSOP with 15,050 days.

In 1972 Brunson cashed for the first time, finishing 3rd in the Main Event and being paid most of the prize money due to a strange deal which allowed Amarillo Slim to win the event.

Brunson’s last cash also was in the Main Event. In 2013 the then-79-year-old finished 409th, more than 41 years after his first cash at the World Series.

Two players also have 41 years at the WSOP on their resume: Bill Baxter and Jay Heimowitz. Both made their debut in 1975; both were active last year and can break Brunson’s record this year.

Table – Longest Time-Span Between First and Most Recent Cash

Player	Days	Years	First	Last
Doyle Brunson	15,050	41	May 1, 1972	Jul 15, 2013
Bill Baxter	15,044	41	May 1, 1975	Jul 8, 2016
Jay Heimowitz	15,025	41	May 1, 1975	Jun 19, 2016
Perry Green	14,297	39	May 1, 1976	Jun 23, 2015
George Huber	13,932	38	May 1, 1977	Jun 23, 2015
Jim Bechtel	13,223	36	May 1, 1979	Jul 14, 2015
Vince Musso	13,190	36	May 1, 1979	Jun 11, 2015
Mickey Appleman	13,189	36	May 15, 1980	Jun 24, 2016
Howard Andrew	13,185	36	May 1, 1976	Jun 6, 2012
Walter Smiley	13,179	36	May 1, 1976	May 31, 2012
Eric Drache	13,177	36	May 4, 1973	Jun 1, 2009

7. Israelashvili and Bojang: Cash Machines

Some poker players only play to win; some play to cash.

Some are named Roland Israelishvili or Ismael Bojang. Those two are true in-the-money Heroes and pure cash machines at the WSOP.

In 2014 Bojang cashed in a record 13 events. In 2016 Israelashvili equalized, scoring as many cashes.

Even more impressive than those numbers is their consistency. Over the last three years Bojang has secured 30 cashes at the WSOP.

Israelashvili has 31. While neither has won a bracelet they’ll certainly be in contention for most cashes again in 2017.

Table – Most WSOP Cashes Over 3 Years

Player	Cashes	Years
Roland Israelashvili	31	2014 – 2016
Ismael Bojang	30	2014 – 2016
Daniel Negreanu	27	2012 – 2014
Benjamin Yu	26	2014 – 2016
Mike Leah	26	2014 – 2016
Michael Watson	25	2013 – 2015
Daniel Kelly	25	2014 – 2016

8. And Then There’s Berry Johnston

Since 1970 a total of 90,454 players have bought in to the Main Event. Only 7,498 unique players have cashed at least once.

As a matter of fact, the vast majority of those players have cashed exactly once.

A few have cashed two or three times; a handful of selected professionals have cashed more often than that.

Among those that have cashed the Main Event most often are Johnny Chan, Chris Bjorin, Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth. 

And then there’s Berry Johnston.

Between 1982 and 2007 he made the money 10 times in the Main Event. He finished 3rd in 1982 and 1985, won the whole thing in 1986 and made another deep run in 1990 when he finished 5th.

That’s truly impressive! Johnston is 81 now but still around. And except for 2011 he’s cashed at least once in every single WSOP since 1982!

Table – Most Main-Event Cashes

Player	ME Cashes
Berry Johnston	10
Doyle Brunson	9
Robert Baldwin	9
Humberto Brenes	9
Phil Hellmuth Jr	8
Johnny Chan	8
Johnny Moss	8
Chris Bjorin	8
Jay Heimowitz	7
Allen Cunningham	7
Justin Cuong Van Tran	7
Mike Sexton	7
Donnacha O’Dea	7
Jason Lester	7
John Esposito	7

9. Your Name Must Be Ronnie Bardah

Imagine you get into the money at the Main Event, make a deep run and bust on Day 4 or 5. Now imagine the same thing happens the next year.

And the next year. And then once more. And, for good measure, again for a 5th year in a row.

Congratulations! Your name must be Ronnie Bardah. He currently holds the record for the most Main Event cashes in a row between 2010 and 2014.

Two players could catch him this year: Aditya Agarwal from India and Croatian Goran Mandic. 

Both have cashed the Main Event 4 times in a row from 2013-2016. They’ll be looking for their 5th consecutive cashes this year.

Another name we have to mention here is Andrew Brokos. He cashed the Main Event in 2006, ’07, ’08, ’10 and ’11. And not only did he cash, he finished in the Top 100 the last three times.

Table – Most Main Event Cashes in a Row

Player	ME-Cashes	Years
Ronnie Bardah	5	2011 – 2015
Aditya Agarwal	4	2013 – 2016
Goran Mandic	4	2013 – 2016
Evan Jarvis	4	2012 – 2015
Giuseppe Zarbo	4	2011 – 2014
Christian Harder	4	2010 – 2013
Chris Bjorin	4	2008 – 2011
Diogo Borges	4	2008 – 2011
Chris Overgard	4	2007 – 2010
Theodore Park	4	2005 – 2008
Bo Sehlstedt	4	2004 – 2007
Robert Turner	4	1991 – 1994

10. Unrequited Tony Cousineau

On the one hand, American Tony Cousineau is one of the biggest names in WSOP history.

Since 1999 he’s cashed 74 times at the World Series. Only seven players have cashed more often than that.

But among all those cashes is not a single win. There’s no 2nd place and no 3rd place either. 

His best result is a 4th place in an Omaha event in 2001.

This makes Cousineau the player with the most cashes by far without winning a single event.

Table – Most WSOP Cashes Without a Bracelet

Player	Country	Cashes	1st	2nd	3rd
Tony Cousineau	United States	74	0	0	0
Roland Israelashvili	United States	63	0	0	1
Tom McCormick	United States	59	0	0	2
Yueqi Zhu	United States	55	0	2	3
Shannon Shorr	United States	54	0	1	2
Allen Kessler	United States	51	0	3	0
Thomas Koral	United States	47	0	0	0
Michael Watson	Canada	46	0	4	0
Mark Gregorich	United States	46	0	1	2
Nam Le	United States	46	0	1	1
David Levi	United States	46	0	0	3
Stephen Chidwick	England	45	0	1	1
Annand Ramdin	United States	45	0	0	0

11. More Assorted Numbers

Before coming to our country statistics, here are some milestone years and numbers which capture the vastness of the World Series of Poker: 

Year	Milestone
1983	First Main Event with more than $1m
1991	First Main Event with more than $2m
1996	First Non-Main Event with more than $1m (a $2k Limit Hold’em Event)
1997	First Main Event with more than $3m
2000	First Main Event with more than $5m
2004	First Non-Hold’em Event with more than $1m (a $5k PLO)
2005	First Main Event with more than $50m

Number	Fact
963,644	Total # of entries since 1970
103,349	Total # of cashes since 1970
90,454	Total # of Main Event entries since 1970
40,657	Number of different players to cash in any WSOP Event
22,374	Most entries ever: The Colossus 2015
9,784	Total # of Main Event cashes since 1970
7,498	Number of unique players to cash in any Main Event since 1970
2,483	Most entries in a Non-Hold’em Event ($565-PLO in 2016)
568	Tournaments with more than $1m prize pool
237	Tournaments with more than 1k players
49	Tournaments with more than $5m prize pool
23	Tournaments with more than 5k players
23	Tournaments with more than $10m prize pool
1	Fewest entries in one tournament (1973, 5 Card Stud, Bill Boyd)
$57,297	Today’s equivalent of $10k in 1972
$7,104,000	Biggest Prize Pool for Non-Hold’em Event (2007 $50k-HORSE)
$8,317,612	Sum of all Buy-Ins since 1970 combined
$42,666,672	Biggest Prize Pool for Non-Main Event (2012 $1m One Drop)
$82,512,162	Biggest Prize Pool Ever (2006 ME)
$2,626,823,114	Total money distributed since 1970

12. The USOP

Poker was and still is a very American game. With the WSOP being held in Las Vegas it’s only natural that most players are Americans.

As a matter of fact roughly three quarters of all cashes belong to American players and 78% of all bracelets do too.

All tallied, US players have 1,040 gold bracelets – almost 20 times as much as the next best nation, Canada.

For the first 12 years no non-American made the money in any WSOP event. It wasn’t until 1982 that the first non-US Players made it to the history books.

Most big countries made their WSOP debut in the late ’80s or early ’90s. Some followed even later. Russia, for example, had its first recorded cash only in 2003.

Now each year more and more countries debut at the WSOP. 2016 saw players from Egypt and Saudi Arabia cash for the first time and 2017 will certainly bring new countries to the tables.

13. The Greatest

There have been 1,325 WSOP events since 1970 and, while he certainly hasn’t played all of them, Phil Hellmuth has still managed to cash a whopping 119 times.

That gives him an estimated ITM-rate of over 20%. Of course he’s also won 14 bracelets, finished among the Top 3 27 times and made over 50 final tables.

So yes; the Brat is by far the best player in WSOP history.

We compiled a ranking of all 40,657 players that have cashed in a WSOP in the past 47 years. Here are the Top 25:

Player	Country	Cashes	1st	2nd	3rd	FT (<10th)	ME Cashes
Phil Hellmuth Jr	United States	119	14	10	3	58	8
Johnny Chan	United States	46	10	5	2	28	8
Doyle Brunson	United States	37	10	4	5	26	9
Phil Ivey	United States	56	10	4	3	30	5
Johnny Moss	United States	26	9	2	1	21	8
Erik Seidel	United States	101	8	3	5	41	3
Men Nguyen	United States	85	7	6	7	41	4
Bill Baxter	United States	34	7	2	1	15	3
Daniel Negreanu	Canada	92	6	7	3	35	5
T.J. Cloutier	United States	65	6	5	4	38	4
Ted Forrest	United States	38	6	3	2	19	1
Jeff Lisandro	Australia	61	6	2	2	23	1
Layne Flack	United States	46	6	2	2	20	1
Jay Heimowitz	United States	40	6	1	4	22	7
Chris Ferguson	United States	74	5	5	1	33	3
David Chiu	United States	71	5	4	2	24	4
Allen Cunningham	United States	61	5	3	1	19	7
Tom McEvoy	United States	46	5	2	6	21	3
Scotty Nguyen	United States	52	5	2	2	23	5
Gary Berland	United States	11	5	2	2	11	2
Jason Mercier	United States	57	5	2	1	20	2
Stu Ungar	United States	15	5	2	0	11	4
Berry Johnston	United States	68	5	1	6	30	10
John Juanda	Indonesia	65	5	1	2	33	3
Daniel Alaei	United States	34	5	0	0	8	4