2025 WSOP Main Event Day 1A Attracts 923 Players
The 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event is underway. Will the famous competition set a new participation record, and will a non-American claim the title?
Will 2025’s WSOP Main Event create a new participation record? © Getty Images
Key Facts:
- The 56th World Series of Poker Main Event is underway.
- Will last year’s record of 10,112 entries be beaten?
- This week, 923 players began their bid for glory on Day 1A.
The World Series of Poker Main Event began in Las Vegas on Wednesday. 2025’s competition represents the 56th time the Holy Grail of Poker has been up for grabs. Last year, American Jonathan Tamayo controversially won the title and its $10 million first prize.
Remarkably, the entry fee for the World Series of Poker Main Event has never changed from the $10,000 it demanded in 1970. If it had kept up with inflation, this year’s entrants would be expected to pay $83,000 to take part in the competition!
The number of entries the 2025 competition will eventually attract is subject to much speculation. Last year, a record 10,112 players took part. It was the second successive year – and only the second time ever – the competition breached the 10,000-entry mark.
The freezeout competition features four starting days. In 2024, 915 players chose to take their shot on the opening day. 2023’s Day 1A attracted 1,039 hopefuls. In contrast, this year, 923 players began their bid for glory on Day 1A.
352,000 Is the Opening Day Magic Number
Four players had worked their 60,000 starting chips into 300,000+ stacks at the end of the opening day’s action. The chip leader is America’s Victor Vo (352,000), and Justin Yaker, also from America, follows (348,000). Belgium’s Miguel Coussement sits third with 320,200 chips.
2024 saw a record 5,014 entrants join the field on Day 1D. Amongst those was the eventual winner and runner-up, Jordan Griff. Such is the popularity of the final starting day; this year, all players progressing from it will play on a specific Day 2.
2025 WSOP Main Event Schedule
- Day 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D: July 2nd-July 5th
- Day 2ABC: Sunday, July 6th (Survivors of Day 1A, 1B, and 1C combined)
- Day 2D: Monday, July 7th (Survivors of Day 1D)
- Day 3: Tuesday, July 8th
- Day 4: Wednesday, July 9th
- Day 5: Thursday, July 10th
- Day 6: Friday, July 11th
- Day 7: Saturday, July 12th
- Day 8: Sunday, July 13th
- Final Table (Day 1): Tuesday, July 15th
- Final Table (Day 2): Wednesday, July 16th
How Much Money Is on the Line?
While Jonathan Tamayo has the distinction of winning the biggest-ever World Series of Poker Main Event, he did not win the competition’s biggest prize. $10 million also went to the 2022 winner, Espen Jorstad and the 2019 scorer, Hossein Ensan.
The record winner’s prize, $12.1 million, went to 2023 champion Daniel Weinman. The following year, the overall payout structure was adjusted to distribute the prize money more evenly, impacting those who typically make deep runs and final tables.
In addition to the field size and winner’s prize, there is much conjecture in the poker community regarding the nationality of the World Series of Poker Main Event. The US has, by far, produced the most winners.
However, the event has become increasingly international, underlined by 12 non-American winners since 1990. Tempering that, visitors to the US and Las Vegas itself have been markedly down in 2025.
Canada, courtesy of Jonathan Duhamel (in 2010) and Greg Merson (2012), has claimed the title twice. As has Germany, with Pius Heinz (2011) and Hossein Ensan (2019), and Vietnam, with Scotty Nguyen (1998) and Qui Nguyen (2016). No other nation has produced more than one Main Event winner.
The other non-American winners are: Joe Hachem (Australia, 2005), Carlos Mortensen (Spain, 2001), Mansour Matloubi (Iran, 1990), Noel Furlong (Ireland, 1999), Peter Eastgate (Denmark, 2008), Martin Jacobson (Sweden, 2014) and Damian Salas (Argentina, 2020).
