The World Series of Poker has always been a popular event for online poker players to involve themselves in. And if this first week of events in the series shows anything, it’s that the whole thing could find itself renamed as the World Series of Online Poker! Why? Well, because the uptake in the four online bracelet events seem as though they will all bring participation levels up to their own high record numbers.
The online section of the World Series of Poker only makes up for four of the total 78 bracelet events in the schedule. However, with the participation numbers from the first week of this year’s event already being visible, it looks as though the online community is flooding to the tournament.
Alas, this shouldn’t come as so much of a surprise, if we’re all honest. The number of entries into the tournament from the online world have actually grown on an annual basis since the World Series of Poker first began offering such bracelets. Furthermore, with the addition of New Jersey opting to sign on to the interstate agreement alongside Delaware and Nevada, it marks the first time that players from this state have been able to participate from home.
A Look Back at Online Bracelet Figures
Online bracelet events haven’t been a part of the World Series of Poker for such a long time, with the first of such occurring in 2015. This came with a $1,000 buy-in and it brought forth 905 separate entries. That year, Anthony Spinella from North Carolina went on to win the event. The following year, a total of 1,247 entries were recorded, while 2017 saw the World Series of Poker opt to hold three different online bracelet events. This saw entries increase up to 2,509 with the lower $333 buy-in amount. The standard $1,000 event would also increase in participation numbers, up to 1,312, while a high-roller offering saw 424 players enter for $3,333.
Even though the last three tournaments for the online community won’t take place until closer to the end of this month, the figures from the first one, which ran in the first week, are very much promising, drawing in large numbers of poker players. With a $365 buy-in re-entry, a total of 2,123 players made up the participation rate for the event, making it the largest ever for a bracelet event in the WSOP.
This first event for the online market was won by William “Twooopair” Reymond – a French journalist living in the state of Texas. He managed to take home $154,995 from the event. Additionally, the aforementioned Spinella also made it to this final table alongside Reymond.
What’s even more interesting is that the figures for the event would potentially have been even higher, as various software glitches meant that some players could not register and join the tournament. Furthermore, certain connectivity issues took place for some players. Therefore, the event could have exploded into a much bigger online event than it already became.
