Numbers Crunch: 2018 WSOP Main Event Fun Facts and Demographics

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

Jul 05, 2018 2 min read

With 7,874 players, the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event is the second-biggest ever held in the WSOP’s 49-year history (largest since 2006). The $10,000 buy-in tournament was up 9 percent year over year and drew 925 players on Day 1A, 2,378 on 1B, and 4,571 on 1C (which was the largest single flight in WSOP history).

That created a $74,015,600 prize pool that’ll be paid to the top 1,182 places with $8.8 million going to the eventual winner. Players came from the world around – 88 different countries to be exact – with the United States contributing the most players by far with 5,758.

Of those American players, all 50 states and the District of Colombia were represented. California had the most players with 1,009 followed by Nevada and Florida with 519 and 456 players respectively. Texas rounded out the top five with 390 runners. On the opposite end of the spectrum, West Virginia was the state least represented with just five players followed by Delaware with seven players.

Canada was second on the list of countries represented with 415, the UK third with 350, and France fourth with 136. Some faraway countries represented include Bosnia, Kenya, Luxemborg, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Zambia, Andorra, Mynamar, and the Isle of Man.

Here are some other fun facts regarding the 2018 WSOP Main Event:

393,700,000 value of chips in play (most ever)
267,716 physical chips in play (each player started with 34 individual chips)
760 dealers used
1,694 decks of cards utilized
88-year-old John Olsen of Moss Point, Mississippi was the oldest player in the field. He bagged on Day 1B.
Nicholas Dashinau of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania was the younger player in the field after turning 21 on July 1. He bagged 90,700 in chips on Day 1C.

Main Event Demographic Breakdown

The average age of 2018 WSOP Main Event participants is 41.23. For males, the average is 43.71 and for females, 41.13. Here is a more detailed look at the age ranges of this year’s participants.