Read on Twitter
Here's some headline numbers from the WSOP Main Event on GGPoker.
A few quick thoughts below. 1/19 https://twitter.com/pokerindpro/status/1335997199663198213
A few quick thoughts below. 1/19 https://twitter.com/pokerindpro/status/1335997199663198213
As I discussed in my Twitter thread last week (
) after Day 1A turnout It is hard to gauge what is "good" turnout for a tournament like this.
But there are two main takeaways here that surely make this disappointing for organizers. 2/19 https://twitter.com/pokerprojones/status/1334466459435720705
) after Day 1A turnout It is hard to gauge what is "good" turnout for a tournament like this. But there are two main takeaways here that surely make this disappointing for organizers. 2/19 https://twitter.com/pokerprojones/status/1334466459435720705
GGPoker collected around $300,000 in rake+admin fee from the entries. Total equity to players is $500K (half of the heads up added money). Thus, each player that entered the main event paid $450 in rake but got back 2/3rds of this in equity. 3/19
I think GG would have hoped to get close at covering honestly the whole $1 million, because the http://WSOP.com end won't make up much of it. 4/19
If "domestic" version gets 200 runners total (it has ~60 so far, so that seems pretty tall order), that will be around ~400K in rake across both editions.
That leaves a 600K shortfall to make up the added prize money. 5/19
That leaves a 600K shortfall to make up the added prize money. 5/19
They might have always expected a bit of overlay (making it up in satties etc), but this cannot be what they planned, surely.
When I said last week on Twitter I thought maybe 1200, I only heard people still predicting higher.
In the end, 1C barely did better than Day 1A. 6/19
When I said last week on Twitter I thought maybe 1200, I only heard people still predicting higher.
In the end, 1C barely did better than Day 1A. 6/19
What really stands out is that GG has hosted at least half a dozen poker tournaments larger than this in 2020 so far.Naturally, there's the WSOP Online Main Event, which was *four times larger* and had *8 times the turnout.* 7/19
But I think even more telling is that during WSOP Online, GG ran WSOP Super MILLION$: One flight, same $10K buy-in - and it got 899 entries - a third more than this week's Main Event. 8/19
In fact, during that series alone there were 5 tournaments with larger prize pools. And in the Spring, a High Roller Championship built a $12 million prize pool. 9/19
Yes, all of these had guarantees, yes they all allowed re-entries, but none had the $1M top prize, none were the official 2020 WSOP Main Event (despite some people perhaps mistakenly thinking otherwise and an unfortunate certificate given to the winner) 10/19
GG/WSOP did not expect to set a new world record. But I think they must have expected a prize pool in excess of $10 million on the international side of things. 11/19
Until http://WSOP.com ME on Sunday, we won't know exactly the combo turnout, but we're looking like something like 800 total entries.
If we put that against MEs of history, it might not beat 2003's Moneymaker year (839)
Since 2006, turnout always >>6000
12/19
If we put that against MEs of history, it might not beat 2003's Moneymaker year (839)
Since 2006, turnout always >>6000
12/19
This is all quite surprising because GGPoker have been killing it this year. Like, they only started running tournament series ~two years ago! And yet this year they...
13/19
13/19
set a record for largest ever tournament had multiple 8-fig prize pool events will have run 3x 9-fig tournament seriesIt was an operator that could go no wrong (from a numbers perspective).
In particular, with high rollers they've crushed it. 14/19
What can we learn? I think there might have made a mistake with the satellite system.
As I understand it, GGPoker gave away 500+ seats to the Main Event, but let players win multiple entries and cash out dupes. 15/19
As I understand it, GGPoker gave away 500+ seats to the Main Event, but let players win multiple entries and cash out dupes. 15/19
If that was endemic, it is going to really drive down turnout: Fewer qualifiers; much fewer *recreational* qualifiers; and, in turn, fewer pros willing to buy in directly if the field is so tough.
It was all announced pretty late too, so little ramp up. 16/19
It was all announced pretty late too, so little ramp up. 16/19
But biggest takeaway: This is perhaps the biggest 
in the back of the online-to-live hybrid concept.
I think we can agree that players roundly rejected this as an idea, with Covid still a overwhelming problem in the United States and large parts of Europe. 17/19
in the back of the online-to-live hybrid concept. I think we can agree that players roundly rejected this as an idea, with Covid still a overwhelming problem in the United States and large parts of Europe. 17/19
Not too surprising, that having to:
- Travel to a very wintery Rosvadov...
- ... in a country still reporting thousands of cases a day...
- ... 10 days before XMas...
- From your own country poss with major travel restrictions
in order to compete for a top-nine prize... 18/19
- Travel to a very wintery Rosvadov...
- ... in a country still reporting thousands of cases a day...
- ... 10 days before XMas...
- From your own country poss with major travel restrictions
in order to compete for a top-nine prize... 18/19
... might be a real turn-off for many.
And then of course traveling to Las Vegas to have a 50% shot at a $1 million prize, a chance you lose if you test positive or can't make the trip, brings down that EV a lot. 19/19
And then of course traveling to Las Vegas to have a 50% shot at a $1 million prize, a chance you lose if you test positive or can't make the trip, brings down that EV a lot. 19/19
