The online version of the 2023 WSOP hosted by GGPoker is entering its final stages, with just days left before Day 2 of the $5k WSOP Online Main Event, which is scheduled for October 2, 2023.
GGPoker decided to go a step further and extend the Main Event guarantee to $25 Million, up from the $20 Million it featured the last two years, and back to 2020 levels, when COVID-19 related lockdowns sparked a small boom in online poker activity.
With six more Day 1 flights left to go and well over 4,000 runners already having played the Main Event, we explore the chances of the 2023 WSOP Online Main Event breaking participation records for this particular event and online poker events.
WSOP Online Numbers So Far
The 2023 WSOP Online Main Event at GGPoker started with the Day 1A flight on August 20, the first of 21 total starting flights that fit into the massive WSOP Online schedule.
GGPoker went into the venture quite bravely, increasing the Main Event’s guarantee to $25 Million despite the same tournament not reaching this number over the last two years.
In fact, the last time WSOP Online Main Event hit and exceeded $25 Million was in 2020 when a big portion of the poker-playing population was stuck at home playing online poker due to the government-imposed quarantines.
That time, GGPoker set the record for the biggest online tournament ever, with the $5k Main Event attracting 5802 players and creating a prize pool of $27,559,500.
Despite the guarantee going down to $20 Million in 2021, the tournament featured an overlay of $563,000, as only 4092 runners showed up. Last year, however, the $20 Million prize pool was shattered by the 4984 players, who created a $23,674,000 prize pool.
Now, with the guarantee back at $25 Million, GGPoker still has some work to do, as a total of 4234 players have entered the event over the initial 15 Day 1 flights — 491 of which have made it into Day 2, for an average of 282 players per flight.
With 6 Day 1 flights still remaining and the trend continuing, we could see another 1,692 players join, for a total of 5,926 players, which would be enough to shatter both the record from last year and the one from 2020.
Yet, the operator has some way to go before these numbers are reached, as the event currently offers an overlay of $4,883,750, which remains to be covered by players who will be playing the remaining Main Event entry flights.
Here is a quick look at the numbers from previous years and the current numbers from this year’s Main Event:
| Year | Guarantee | Total Prize Pool | Entries | Overlay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $25 Million | $27,559,500 | 5,802 | N/A |
| 2021 | $20 Million | $20,000,000 | 4,092 | $563,000 |
| 2022 | $20 Million | $23,674,000 | 4,984 | N/A |
| 2023 | $25 Million | $20,111,500* | $20,111,500* | $4,888,500* |
*Six Day 1 flights still left in the 2023 WSOP Online Main Event
There’s Still Time to Play in the 2023 WSOP Online Main Event
The 2023 WSOP Online Main event is entering its final stages, but there are still six Day 1 flights left to play, including the Last Chance Day 1 flight, which is scheduled for October 2, the same day as Day 2, giving players an opportunity to qualify for Day 2 action last minute.
The $ 5,000 buy-in may be a bit steep to pay out of pocket, but GGPoker is still running a ton of satellites for the remaining Day 1 flights, with buy-ins starting as low as $3 and direct qualifiers open from as low as $108.
This means there is still plenty of time to either buy in directly or win your way into the 2023 WSOP Online Main Event and help it become the biggest tournament in online poker history over the following week.
Sign up with GGPoker to check out the list of satellites for the Main Event or to play in any of the dozens of other WSOP Online events spread out over the final days of September and early October.
