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Top 10 numbers from the WSOP's Colossus

1 June 2015

LAS VEGAS — The $565 Colossus has been the most talked-about event at the week-old 2015 World Series of Poker, and for good reason. The tournament drew more entries than any tournament in poker history by a long shot.

Here are 10 mind-bending numbers from the first two days of the WSOP Colossus.

10. 22,374
The number of entries in the tournament.

It used to be that a tournament that drew more than 5,000 entries would be big news. Well, the Colossus achieved that feat in four separate flights. It shattered the record for entries in a live poker tournament, previously held by the 2006 WSOP Main Event, which drew 8,773 players.

With players having the opportunity to register for multiple flights, it remains to be seen how many unique players entered the tournament (WSOP officials said they will have a breakdown of those numbers in the next day or two), but there's little doubt that record (also set by the 2006 Main Event, which players could only enter once) will fall as well.

9. 1 hour, 15 minutes
How long I stood in line to get my seat assignment on Thursday night.

Yes, I played in this tournament. No, I didn't do well. But it was interesting to get the perspective of the player, and that meant standing in line for a while. Truth be told, my wait was quite a bit shorter than what many other players faced.

8. $11,187,000
The prize pool.

To build interest in the event, the WSOP guaranteed a $5 million prize pool. Hitting more than double the target is quite an accomplishment.

7. $638,880
The first-place prize.

The WSOP does not have payout structures for their tournaments posted online — at least not in an easy-to-find location — so when the first-place prize was announced, many players were critical of the flat payout structure. First place in this event earns just 5.7 percent of the prize pool, less than half of what many poker tournaments pay their winners. Of course, the tournament drew more entries than any event prior to it, so it probably doesn't make sense to have the same payout structure as every other poker tournament.

6. $28.56
The amount of each buy-in that will go to the winner.

I'm actually not against a flat payout structure, but this is an interesting statistic. This proposal from Rob Perelman might be considered an improvement on what the WSOP has implemented for this event. It still pays players who min-cash more than twice their buy-in, but the pay jumps are much smaller ($20 vs. $100) as you go up the ladder.

5. $1,187,000
Revenue generated for Caesars from this event. Fifty dollars from every $565 buy-in went to the house. Another $15 from every buy-in went to the dealers, for a total of $335,610 for the staff.

4. Ten
Number of big blinds players who started play in the latest wave of each flight received to start play. Incredibly, approximately 2,000 players chose to enter the tournament in this manner during the final two flights on Saturday.

3. 58.1 percent
Percentage of the remaining field for which this event will be their first WSOP cash.

Of the 506 players that advanced to Day 3 of the tournament, 294 of them had never cashed in a WSOP tournament before the Colossus.

2. Two hundred twenty-three
Number of players who will start Day 3 with fewer than 20 big blinds.

Players start Day 3 at level 20, with a 1,000 ante and blinds of 4,000/8,000. With 44 percent of the field down to less than 20 big blinds, the bustouts will likely be fast and furious to start the day as short stacks look to double up and push all in.

1. Eleven
Number of WSOP bracelet winners remaining to start Day 3.

Three-time bracelet winner Matt Matros is the most decorated player remaining in the field, while Brett Shafer is looking to add a third WSOP bracelet to his collection. Matros will start Day 3 with 332,000 chips, while Shafer has 192,000.
Top 10 numbers from the WSOP's Colossus is republished from Online.CasinoCity.com.
Aaron Todd

Home-game hotshot Aaron Todd was an editor/writer at Casino City for nearly eight years, and is currently the Assistant Director of Athletics for Communications and Marketing at St. Lawrence University, his alma mater. While he is happy to play Texas Hold'em, he'd rather mix it up and play Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw, and Badugi.

Aaron Todd

Home-game hotshot Aaron Todd was an editor/writer at Casino City for nearly eight years, and is currently the Assistant Director of Athletics for Communications and Marketing at St. Lawrence University, his alma mater. While he is happy to play Texas Hold'em, he'd rather mix it up and play Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw, and Badugi.