The event will try to beat one of its oldest records – the 2006 meet-up – with the 2022 event coming close to improving the 8,773-player record that was established more than a decade ago, not least with the help Chris Moneymaker. Whether the 2006 feat can be repeated is anyone’s guess, but Stewart is confident that he wants and can try.
Moneymaker Inspires Poker Pros to Try
Stewart wants to see the record improved and the event’s growth continue organically. Still, the organizaiton is taking it easy with WSOP aiming at a 1% growth this year, but also promising that the Main Event, due on July 3, would be setting a new milestone to aspire to indeed.
The 2006 event was of course driven by a massive hype, owing to Moneymaker, a professional poker player who qualified for the main event after playing in a $86 online qualifier and successfully making the haha777 final cut. He inspired thousands of people to turn up, making it the best and biggest year for poker in terms of WSOP Main Event attendance.
Although interest in the game and poker in general have improved over the past years, with more players participating, Main Event presence has still not beaten that 2006 milestone it seems. Stewart hailed the events of 2006 and the role Moneymaker played in all of this, saying:
It immediately changed everything and inspired a generation. Chris, of course, had the spotlight thrust upon him, and much like Doyle Brunson always been a gracious gentleman sacrificing his privacy and his time to travel the world promoting poker, hoping the game and its event will be bigger and better in the future.
WSOP executive director Ty StewartOnline Qualifiers for WSOP Main Event Continue
Qualifying into the main event through an online tournament is not a thing of the past at all. WSOP’s international partner, GGPoker, has already been amping up the hype, promising more than 600 players to re-write the success story by Moneymaker himself.
Meanwhile, WSOP.com will also be giving away 400 Main Event entry packages to people across New Jersey, Nevada, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, where the website operates. Online poker is expanding quickly around the nation with Stewart confident that the series can see a strong turnup for the Main Event due this summer.
