The World Series of Poker is often used as a barometer for the overall health of the poker economy. Based on this year’s attendance numbers, the poker economy appears to be firing on all cylinders.

The 2018 WSOP produced a record 123,865 entries across 78 events. And for the first time in its history, the WSOP handed out over a quarter-billion-dollars in prize-money: $266,889,193 to put an exact number on it.

The Main Event wasn’t a record-setter, but it was close.

A total of 7,874 players entered the $10,000 buy-in tournament, the second highest total in the tournament’s 49 year history.

• Humberto Brenes, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Ferguson, and Alex Jacob tied for the most number of cashes during the WSOP, with eight cashes each. Jeff Madsen, who won two events and made two other final.
• WSOP.com continues this legacy, yet strikes the proper balance between professional-grade and accessible. It's all the action and prestige of the World Series of Poker, from the comfort of your home or locale of choice.
• They are joined by a number of familiar faces in the international poker scene, such as slots streamer Jari “jarttu84” Lahtinen, World Poker Tour winner and Team partypoker member Anatoly Filatov, poker coach Alexandros Theologis, two-time WSOP bracelet winner Yuri Dzivielevski, as well as Daniel Dvoress.

The following is the list of World Series of Poker Main Event champions.The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is 'the oldest, largest, most prestigious, and most media-hyped gaming competition in the.

The United States accounted for 73 percent (5,758) of the 7,874 participants in the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event, and thanks to data from the WSOP, we can see where these players are coming from.

No surprises at the top

The five states that sent the most players to the 2018 WSOP Main Event were:

1. California: 1,009
2. Nevada: 626
3. Florida: 519
4. New York: 456
5. Texas: 390

1,635 of the 5,758 participants (more than 28 percent of the US field) hail from just two states, California and Nevada.

California is the most populous state in the country, so it’s not surprising that that over 1,000 WSOP Main Event participants reside in the Golden State. In the same vein, Florida, New York, and Texas rank third, fourth, and second in population respectively.

The outlier in the group (but not really) is Nevada. The state ranks just 33rd in population.

Of course, Nevada is the gambling capital of the world and the home of the WSOP, so even though it’s punching way above its population weight class with 626 entries, the Silver State’s #2 ranking isn’t a surprise.

But Nevada wasn’t the only state that overperformed its population.

The states that overperformed

In addition to Nevada, 22 states had more participants in the WSOP Main Event than their population dictated.

Some of the states that overperformed their populations are unsurprising.

A poker hotspot, New Jersey is also one of only three states with legal online poker, and WSOP.com ran multiple satellites to the WSOP in the Garden State.

What’s in the water in New England?

The strong showings by other states are harder to quantify.

That’s particularly true for several New England states: Maine (+9), Connecticut (+9), Massachusetts (+7), Vermont (+4), and New Hampshire (+2). The only New England state that didn’t exceed expectations was Rhode Island.

There are several legal poker rooms in New England, but the region isn’t exactly known as a hotbed of poker activity.

Connecticut boasts two legal poker rooms, one at Mohegan Sun and the other at Foxwoods. The latter is one of the biggest poker rooms in the country.

Twin River in Rhode Island is the only other full-scale poker room in the region (MGM Springfield will boast a poker room when it opens in August, as will Encore Boston Harbor when it opens next year).

Wsop Main Event Participants

Beyond that it’s slim pickings. Hollywood Casino in Bangor, Maine has a small poker room, and charity rooms are available in New Hampshire.

What the region does possess poker-wise is a thriving underground and home game scene, as well as one of the most popular bar poker leagues in the country, The Eastern Poker Tour.

New England also has a lot of disposable income.

According to the Tax Foundation, when it comes to “real” disposable income, Connecticut ranks 4th, Massachusetts ranks 6th, New Hampshire ranks 13th, and Rhode Island ranks 14th. Rounding out New England, Vermont is 25th and Maine is 35th.

The states that underperformed

Things are even more convoluted when it comes to the states that underperformed.

Several of the states with deficits of five or more have strong poker economies: Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia.

Wsop Participants 2019

What you don’t find is a lot of disposable income in these states. Virginia tops the list at 15th, with almost every underperforming state falling in the bottom half of the Tax Foundation’s disposable income rankings.

Upshot

More than access to poker, the economic climate in a state will give you a good idea of what states will be overrepresented and underrepresented in the WSOP Main Event.

Doyle Brunson picked up in 1977 right were he left of the year before. He took down his third gold bracelet by winning the preliminary seven-card stud eight-or-better tournament before gearing up for the main event. Bobby Baldwin also broke out onto the World Series of Poker scene by winning two gold bracelets in preliminary events. He won the $10,000 deuce-to-seven lowball event and then claimed the top prize in the very next event, the $5,000 seven-card stud tournament, to go back to back. This would be unheard of at the WSOP of today, although Jeff Madsen did come close to that feat in 2006.
Another new feature in 1977 was the first-ever WSOP ladies event. Tournament Director Eric Drache added the event to the schedule, and it was a $100 buy-in seven-card stud tournament that attracted 94 participants. Jackie McDaniels won the inaugural bracelet, and some form of ladies event has become a feature at the WSOP ever since.
Brunson made another strong run in the main event, and he made a large step toward defending his title when he picked up a huge pot with suited connectors late on the third day of action. Brunson busted both Buck Buchanan and Ed “Junior” Whited from the tournament on the hand and picked up 140,000 with trip sevens.
The final four players in the event were Milo “Sioux Falls Slew” Jacobson, “Sailor” Roberts, Gary “Bones” Berland, and Brunson. Roberts was sent to the rail in fourth place when his pocket eights ran into the pocket kings of Jacobson, and Jacobson followed suit in third place when Berland disposed of him with a straight. Brunson then slow-played a pair of queens in the hole against Berland and knocked out one of his legs. He doubled up through Berland on the hand to survive and take a substantial chip lead.
The final hand was a pleasant trip down memory lane for Brunson that also led Berland to steam for hours into the night. Brunson was dealt 10 2 in the hole, and Berland received 8 5. The flop hit the table 10 8 5, and Berland checked his option. Brunson checked, as well, and the 2 hit on the turn. Brunson led out with a bet. Berland pushed all in, and Brunson quickly called. The 10 on the river added insult to injury for Berland, and he finished in second place. Brunson had won the world championship for the second year in a row with 10-2 in the hole, and those cards are now known to the poker world as “Texas Dolly.” Brunson earned $340,000 for the win, along with his fourth gold bracelet, and he put that money to good use. Brunson spent the prize money on the publishing costs for the book that is now considered the bible of poker strategy books, Super/System.

WSOP history article links:
Preludes - 1970 - 1971 - 1972 - 1973 - 1974 - 1975 - 1976