The numbers are in and it’s official: the second edition of the $1,100 WPT Prime Championship will set new records for the World Poker Tour.
After four starting flights, an astounding 10,512 entries pushed the prize pool to $10,196,640, more than doubling the original $5 million guarantee. More importantly for players, the winner will receive a life-changing first-place prize of $1,386,280, in what WPT’s Matt Savage called ”the largest 1st place prize for a $1K in history.”
“Over the past year, everyone at World Poker Tour has been working extremely hard to bring players around the world the first-class experience of playing in WPT Prime events,” said WPT Global Tour Management Senior Director Cathy Zhao. “In 2023, we’ve reached new heights in the mid-major category with record-breaking fields in cities around the globe.
“That’s what makes the success of this WPT Prime Championship at Wynn Las Vegas so rewarding. The incredible turnout and support from the players, make all the effort worth it. We’re proud to, once again, bring this world-class event to the WPT World Championship.”
First-place will earn $673,630 more than Stephen Song did when he took down the inaugural WPT Prime Championship last year for $712,650. In addition, the entire final table is set to make an incredible return on investment. Here’s a look at the posted final table paydays:
1. $1,386,280 (includes a seat to the 2024 WPT World Championship)
2. $910,000
3. $675,000
4. $505,000
5. $380,000
6. $290,000
The remaining payouts will be posted at the start of Day 2.
The final numbers are indeed impressive, however, the writing was on the wall early that this event could become something special. Of course, historically, large field tournaments gain momentum on each subsequent starting day and the WPT Prime Championship was no exception. As the prize pool grew, the speed at which people made their way into the tournament skyrocketed with nearly 1,500 runners in their seats at the very start of Day 1D. It’s far-and-away a record field for a WPT Prime event and nearly doubles the entries from last season’s field of 5,430.
Here’s a look at the growth of each starting flight of the event:
Day 1A: 1,636 entries
Day 1B: 2,198 entries (+ ~35% increase over Day 1A)
Day 1C: 2,921 entries (+ ~32% increase over Day 1B)
Day 1D: 3,757 entries (+ ~29% increase over Day 1C)