Overall Attendance Records Shattered for the 2010 World Series of Poker

Attendance of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has already broken all previous records. More than 63,706 players turned out to compete for 55 bracelet events beating out the previous record of 60,875 players for 57 events. With two more events to be counted it appears that the new attendance mark has far surpassed previous records showing that even a bad economy cannot hurt the popularity of poker’s biggest event.

"We're thrilled that poker enthusiasts from every corner of the globe have reinforced the World Series of Poker's standing as one of the most popular competitive events anywhere," said World Series of Poker Vice President Ty Stewart.

"This year's overall turnout continues to show the players' passion for playing on poker's biggest stage despite the continued sluggish economy."

A number of changes had been made to this year’s schedule including the addition of six $1k events and a change in format for the $50k Players Championship. It appears that poker's high-stakes community has embraced the change, as nearly all of the $10k Championship events saw an increase in registration over 2009.

Pros also flocked to the new $25k Six-Handed No-Limit event, which drew 191 players despite the high buy-in.

"It actually got a better turnout than I expected," said Barry Greenstein.

"I thought it would only get about 100 players, because it's not televised. If it was televised it would be about 250."

While the pros have certainly turned out en masse, Jason Mercier believes that an influx of international players is probably the biggest reason for the record-breaking registration numbers.

"I just think more people wanted to play this year," Mercier said.

"Interest in poker is growing in other countries. Not so much the in the U.S., but we may have had more European players this year."

All eyes are now on the registration numbers for the Main Event, which began yesterday. The tournament drew 6,494 players last year and it should be interesting to see just how much growth the event enjoys.

Some suspect that confusion over registration rules could hurt the events turn out as several players were turned away on Day 1d but we’ll just have to wait it out and see.

The 2010 WSOP continues now through July 17. Stay tuned for more news and updates.