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Inflation Proofed WSOP = $60,000 Buy-In

Posted by : Charlie River | 1 Comment

29

May

Categories : WSOP

The WSOP Main Event has had the same buy-in for 40 years. Meanwhile, it has lost its status as the most important poker competition.

When the WSOP started out in Las Vegas 40 years back, the buy-in was set to $10,000. At the time, this was most definitely a respectable sum of money.

Today when the WSOP celebrates its 40th anniversary, the Main Event buy-in is still at $10,000.

Rio All Suites Hotel & Resort

Rio All Suites Hotel & Resort in Las Vegas, home of the WSOP

WSOP Main Event Buy-In at 10 Big Blinds

This in a world where the biggest pros play cash games with average pots in the 100,000 dollars. During its life-time, the buy-in to the most prestigious competition in poker has been reduced to ten big blinds.

In the last few years’ of the World Series, the Main Event has been rivaled by a number of equally expensive (or non-expensive) events -the World Championships in various poker variations, such as PLO.

10K World Championships and 50K HORSE

With this development in place, the next step wasn’t long: the introduction of WSOP events with higher buy-ins than the Main Event. In 2009 WSOP there are two: the 50K HORSE and the 40K Holdem.

Today, there are also a few $25K high roller events in other venues than the WSOP. Many pros feel that winning those events is more honorable than winning the Main Event, which is filled with online qualifiers, rich flounders and other forms of “dead money”.

Had the WSOP been adjusted for inflation, the Main Event buy-in would now be around $60,000*. It would still have its status as the Main Event, meaning the most important poker competition in the world.

But it wouldn’t attract as many players, and Jamie Gold wouldn’t have won $12M.

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* Using 4.66 % yearly inflation from http://www.measuringworth.com

Comment (1)

  1. Derby Lane   June 2, 2009 at 1:09 am

    The buy-in amount isn’t what makes this tournament the king of hold-em events, it is the number of players that buy-in at $10,000 creating the top poker money prize that make the WSOP Main Event king..

    An increased buy-in creates a more elite field and with the success of this years $40,000 event we can probably be assured of seeing these at least every 5 years, or an an annual anniversary event. This anniversary tournament, if it does paly out again, might challange the Main Event for the title of king but until the top prize exceeds that of the Main Event there won’t be a crowning of a new king.

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