The biggest and most prestigious poker series in the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) starts on May 28 and runs until July 17. Many poker players from all over the world will converge in an attempt to make their poker dreams come true on the biggest stage. The WSOP, in its 55th edition, boasts 99 WSOP bracelet events, with plenty of opportunities for professionals and amateurs to shine.
Changes in the Payout Structure
One of the most significant changes this year is the payout structure of most tournaments. In earlier years, we could have seen payouts being top-heavy, meaning they would rise exponentially when moving up the ladder, so people at the bottom of the payout ladder (minimum cash) would get less than double the buy-in. This year, the minimum cash will get at least double, and other low-middle-ranked players will get a bigger share of the prize pool.
However, the payout boost for the lower-ranked players had to come from somewhere, and it is from the top. The event winner and other highly placed players will get a smaller share of the prize pool.
So, in last year’s $1,500 Seven Card Stud event, Nick Schulman won the prize of $110,800. This year, if Nick were to win the same event with the same number of entries, he would win $104,027, which is 6.1 percent less. But in the case of a player who got the minimum cash last year and won $2,441, he would get a 25 percent boost and win $3,051 this year. There were 360 attendees at this event, and 54 were in the money, so the number of people who will get paid will stay the same.
The $6,000 doesn’t seem like a big deal, but if you ask Isaac Haxton, the winner of last year’s $25,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller event, if he is okay with winning $101,000 less while risking the same amount, he would surely disagree.
How the Payout Change Affects the Players
If we consider that most of the professionals already have the bankroll to play all the events they intend to, especially if we consider that most of them are selling action. We can conclude that change will benefit the recreational as they will get more money for lower places and be able to play more events. This has a similar effect to what GGPoker did when they decided to send money to players’ accounts as soon as they min cash before the tournament finished.
If we ignore the recent trends of WSOP breaking participants’ records year after year, this alone will positively impact the number of entries in each event. The only losers of this change have to be the professionals since they have the most chance to be in top spots, and most of the time, money will come out of their pockets.
Why is This Good For WSOP
Starting with the already mentioned, WSOP will get more entries in each event, keep breaking records, and boost the value of its brand. They will also have more people paying the rake, directly increasing their revenue for this year and for the upcoming years.
We can expect WSOP to continue this trend in the future with more events, more players in the money, higher rake, less money on top, and more satellites, all of which would bring in more revenue and more brand exposure.
Images courtesy of PokerGo
