WSOP Main Event Registration Closes; How Big Did it Get?

Jon Sofen Senior Editor U.S.

Jul 07, 2026 2 min read

Another Year, Another Massive Turnout
Comparing Numbers to the 2025 WSOP Main Event

Registration in the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has closed, and it was another year of massive attendance.

Last year's field had 9,735 entries, third most all time and the first year since 2022 it didn't crack 10,000 players. The tournament, which typically had 6,500 to 8,000 players from 2006 to 2022, is now consistently surpassing 9,000 entrants each year.

The record for most players is 10,112 in 2024, the year Jonathan Tamayo became world champion. This year's Main Event didn't quite break the record, but it will still go down as one of the largest fields ever.

Another Year, Another Massive Turnout

The 2026 WSOP Main Event is starting to seem a bit like the 2025 WSOP Main Event. Another huge field, and Michael Mizrachi has plenty of chips. The defending champion bagged over 200,000 chips Monday on Day 2abc and will return to action Wednesday with an above-average stack.

How big did the 2026 field reach? At around 3:45 p.m. PT, once registration officially closed, the board showed 9,208 players, creating a prize pool of $85,625,100, making it the fourth-largest WSOP Main Event in the tournament's 57-year history.

Phil Ivey was among the final few participants in the Main Event. The Poker Hall of Famer and 11-time WSOP bracelet winner took his seat with 60,000 chips in Paris Las Vegas immediately after the second break of the day, right after registration closed.

Many other big names are competing in the Day 2d session, with stars such as Kathy Liebert, Alex Foxen, and Liv Boeree working with big stacks at the time of publishing. Daniel Negreanu was among the notables stuck with a small stack, but still alive.

All players from both Day 2 sessions who bag chips will return to action on Wednesday at 11 a.m. PT for Day 3. PokerNews will continue live reporting the tournament until a champion is crowned on Aug. 5.

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