The World Series of Poker is one of the most popular events in the game. In fact, it is the popular event in poker. The buyin for the huge tournament is a whopping 10K, but that doesn't prevent those who want to play from joining. In fact, this year, the World Series of poker featured a whopping 7,221 entrants, which totals $70,221,000 in total entries. That's huge, especially when you consider when the last big fields for the main event were.
Biggest field ever.
Jamie Gold won the main event back in 2006, and that tournament included the highest number of entrants ever: a staggering 8,773 players. Since then, no tournament has really come close to topping that number. 2010 featured the second highest number of entries, as 7,319 people entered. That's not even close to 2006, and no other main event has come close. But the fact that so many people signed up this year is a good sign for the growth of poker as a whole.
Why so many entrants?
Since Black Friday, poker has been on a slow decline in popularity. Without the online game, the regular player had less of a chance to really play.
The ease of access was restricted, and poker was less seen on TV and less talked about. Now though, players in the US have a chance to experience the game in a different way: poker vlogs.
The Rise of Poker Vlogging Popularity.
Ever heard of a poker vlog? If you're an avid poker fan, there's a decent chance that you have. One name in particular has to be mentioned because he is simply the most popular vlogger out there. His name is Andrew Neeme, and he's a professional poker player who lives in Las Vegas. Every few days, he posts a video to his YouTube channel about a session he just grinded out. These videos feature both hand graphics and analysis, and have taken the YouTube poker community by storm.
And Neeme isn't the only one. Both Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk, two professional poker players, have followed in Andrew's footsteps and started vlogging as well. Unlike Andrew, these two professionals already had a large fanbase and didn't need to promote themselves or create high quality content to get views. Still, the three have done wonders to promote the game and bring players out to the live tables.
Online Poker Legal Again?
Now that poker is this popular, could online poker become legal again? It's certainly possible, as poker players have been pushing for regulation since it disappeared. Professionals like Jason Somerville have advocated for the legality of it, and it certainly would offer some significant tax revenue if regulation did exist. For now, the game of poker is getting more popular as more and more players flock to the main event.