Another year, another colossal showing at poker's crown jewel. The 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event officially closed registration Monday afternoon during Day 2d, locking in a staggering 9,735 entries - good for the third-largest field in the tournament's storied history dating back to 1970.
This year's massive turnout trails only the record-breaking 10,112-player field from 2024, won by Jonathan Tamayo, and the 10,043-runner Main Event conquered by Daniel Weinman in 2023.
Prize Pool and Payouts Locked In
The WSOP confirmed payouts shortly after registration closed, with a whopping $90,535,500 prize pool on the line. As has become tradition, the winner will walk away with a life-changing $10 million, matching Tamayo's payday from last year.
The bubble will burst at 1,461 players, each guaranteed a $15,000 min-cash, with money expected to start flowing either late on Day 3 or early Day 4. Make the final table, and you're looking at a guaranteed seven-figure score. Climb the mountain, and it's $10 million plus the game's most coveted hardware, the WSOP Main Event bracelet.
2025 WSOP Main Event Final Table - Payouts
|
Place
|
Prize
|
|
1st
|
$10,000,000
|
|
2nd
|
$6,000,000
|
|
3rd
|
$4,000,000
|
|
4th
|
$3,000,000
|
|
5th
|
$2,400,000
|
|
6th
|
$1,900,000
|
|
7th
|
$1,500,000
|
|
8th
|
$1,250,000
|
|
9th
|
$1,000,000
|
Big Names, Big Stories
Plenty of poker royalty is still in the hunt. Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, and Vanessa Selbst have all punched their tickets to Day 3. Also still in the mix are Doug Polk, Ryan Depaulo, Cliff Josephy, and Darren Elias, bringing firepower to the late stages of poker's biggest battleground.
Reigning champion Jonathan Tamayo is also back in the spotlight. After winning a $160 "lucky flip" satellite on WSOP Online to secure his seat, he jumped into the Day 1d field and is still alive heading into Day 2d with an average stack. Still, Tamayo isn't treating this as a title defense. As he told PokerNews last week, he's "definitely not defending."
Not All Past Champs Survive
Not everyone with Main Event glory in their past managed to navigate the minefield. Ryan Riess (2013) fell on Day 2d, while 2003 champ and poker boom catalyst Chris Moneymaker ran into a brutal cooler and busted early on Day 1. Moneymaker, however, bounced back quickly - taking down his second Moneymaker Tour Main Event just two days later at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
A Historic Field
Only three times in WSOP history has the Main Event crossed the 9,000-entry threshold. The first was 2006, when Jamie Gold topped 8,773 players to win what was then a record-setting prize. That stood until Weinman's 2023 title, and now the 2025 edition cements its place as another all-time great turnout.
As Day 3 was set on Tuesday at noon PT, the stakes just keep on rising, the field thinning continuously, and the lights of poker's biggest stage are getting even brighter.
Source: https://www.pokernews.com/tours/wsop/2025-wsop/news/2025-wsop-main-event-registration-closed-48088.htm
