As Mark Twain is so often credited as saying, ‘There are lies, damned lies and statistics.’ And yet, whether a poker player, sports bettor, student of politics, or pretty much anyone else on the planet, statistics can be just so seductive.
We live in a world of over 8 billion people; we can’t know them all. But we can gather facts, numbers, and statistics. We can look at data in a myriad of ways in an effort to grow our understanding of subjects too large and complex to fully comprehend.
Twain also said, ‘Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable.’ While he really didn’t care for data analysts, his point holds true — it seems data can be put to work to back up any claim worth making, just so long as you know how to frame it.
And so, with all that said, we've dusted off our many calculators to break down the numbers for all the World Series of Poker events completed so far this summer, comparing them with the corresponding events of 2024.
In our view, these numbers suggest the WSOP is growing in 2025, rather than shrinking as some predicted.
So take a grain or two of salt, and let’s break out the stats.
The overall numbers
Firstly, we gathered the attendance figures for the first 14 events of this year’s WSOP — all the ones completed at the time of writing.
Secondly, we threw out the numbers for the $25K Head-up Championship, which is capped at 64 entrants due to its head-to-head knockout structure, and so naturally attracted the same number of entrants this year as last.
We're left with what Twain might call a 'stubborn fact': in 2025, the WSOP has recorded 36,821 entries, up from 34,508 in 2024. 2,313 additional entries is a 6.7% increase year-on-year.
Which is not to say that attendance is up in every event, although — with this admittedly small sample size — we are seeing a trend of increased attendance, however we break down the events.
And we’re breaking them down like this…
By game variant
No-limit hold’em
Six of the 13 events completed so far have been in that most popular of formats: no-limit hold’em.
Of these six, 50% are up on 2024, and 50% are down.
Up:
- $1,000 Mystery Millions: 19,654 vs 18,409 (+1,245, 6.7%)
- $5,000 8-Max: 693 vs 660 (+33, 5%)
- $600 Deepstack: 6,090 vs 5,110 (+980, 19.2%)
These events see the two biggest increases over 2024, with the Mystery Millions in particular attracting a new record field for the event.
Down:
- $500 Industry Employees: 914 vs 1,189 (-275, 23.1%)
- $10,000 Mystery Bounty: 616 vs 965 (-349, 36.1%)
- $1,500 6-Max: 2,354 vs 2,526 (-172, 6.8%)
Other games
Looking at non-hold’em events, there is a bigger trend towards growth in 2025, with five of the seven events boasting bigger numbers than 2024.
Up:
- $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha: 757 vs 733 (+24, 3.3%)
- $1,500 Dealers Choice: 597 vs 530 (+67, 12.6%)
- $10,000 Omaha 8: 217 vs 197 (+20, 10.1%)
- $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw: 532 vs 453 (+79, 17.4%)
- $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack: 3,110 vs 2,402 (+708, 29.4%)
Down:
- $1,500 Omaha 8: 910 vs 928 (-18, 1.9%)
- $1,500 Seven Card Stud: 377 vs 406 (-29, 7.1%)
Of these, the PLO Deepstack looks the most significant. A big increase in the PLO Deepstack may potentially be ascribed to its place in the schedule: It is event number 16 in 2025, but was number 33 in 2024, coming later in the series.
Could this year’s event have benefited from the rush of excitement the new WSOP brings?
By buy-in and field size
Dividing events into $1,500 and under, versus anything higher, we still see an overall increase in attendance this year.
Nine events have completed so far this year at a buy-in of $1,500 or under, with five of them up on last year and four down. Of the four events over $1,500, three have increased and just one decreased.
In terms of field size, five events are in the books that would generally attract a thousand players or more, with three up on 2024 and two down. Of the eight events with sub-1,000 player fields, five are up on last year, and three are down.
Lies, damned lies, or statistics?
Whichever way we’ve sliced it, we see this year’s World Series of Poker showing all the signs that it may well eclipse last year’s WSOP.
Of course, it’s early days, and it’s impossible to accurately predict how things may develop. So, while we’re having fun, let’s think about what this could mean for the WSOP Main Event. After all, it broke the record last year with 10,112 runners. Could it be even bigger this year?
Growth of 6.7%, if applied to the Main Event, would put it around the 10,789 mark for a new record size.
What are your predictions for the Main Event — will we see a new record set? Let us know in the comments below.
