{"id":10861,"date":"2018-07-27T13:08:32","date_gmt":"2018-07-27T13:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pokerscout.com\/?p=10861"},"modified":"2018-07-28T13:27:28","modified_gmt":"2018-07-28T13:27:28","slug":"wsop-attendance-by-state-new-england-poker-players-were-over-represented","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pokerscout.com\/wsop-attendance-by-state-new-england-poker-players-were-over-represented\/","title":{"rendered":"WSOP Attendance By State: New England Poker Players Were Over-Represented"},"content":{"rendered":"
The World Series of Poker<\/strong> is often used as a barometer for the overall health of the poker economy. Based on this year\u2019s attendance numbers, the poker economy appears to be firing on all cylinders.<\/p>\n The 2018 WSOP produced a record 123,865 entries across 78 events. And for the first time in its history, the WSOP handed out over a quarter-billion-dollars in prize-money: $266,889,193 to put an exact number on it.<\/p>\n The Main Event wasn\u2019t a record-setter, but it was close.<\/p>\n A total of 7,874 players entered the $10,000 buy-in tournament, the second highest total in the tournament\u2019s 49 year history.<\/p>\n The United States accounted for 73 percent (5,758) of the 7,874 participants in the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event, and thanks to data from the WSOP, we can see where these players are coming from.<\/p>\n The five states that sent the most players to the 2018 WSOP Main Event were:<\/p>\n 1,635 of the 5,758 participants (more than 28 percent of the US field) hail from just two states, California and Nevada.<\/p>\n California is the most populous state in the country, so it\u2019s not surprising that that over 1,000 WSOP Main Event participants reside in the Golden State. In the same vein, Florida, New York, and Texas rank third, fourth, and second in population respectively.<\/p>\n The outlier in the group (but not really) is Nevada. The state ranks just 33rd in population.<\/p>\n Of course, Nevada is the gambling capital of the world and the home of the WSOP, so even though it\u2019s punching way above its population weight class with 626 entries, the Silver State\u2019s #2 ranking isn\u2019t a surprise.<\/p>\n But Nevada wasn\u2019t the only state that overperformed its population.<\/p>\n In addition to Nevada, 22 states had more participants in the WSOP Main Event than their population dictated.<\/p>\n Some of the states that overperformed their populations are unsurprising.<\/p>\n A poker hotspot, New Jersey is also one of only three states with legal online poker, and WSOP.com<\/strong> ran multiple satellites to the WSOP in the Garden State.<\/p>\n The strong showings by other states are harder to quantify.<\/p>\n That\u2019s particularly true for several New England states: Maine<\/strong> (+9), Connecticut<\/strong> (+9), Massachusetts<\/strong> (+7), Vermont<\/strong> (+4), and New Hampshire<\/strong> (+2). The only New England state that didn\u2019t exceed expectations was Rhode Island<\/strong>.<\/p>\n There are several legal poker rooms in New England, but the region isn\u2019t exactly known as a hotbed of poker activity.<\/p>\n Connecticut boasts two legal poker rooms, one at Mohegan Sun<\/strong> and the other at Foxwoods<\/strong>. The latter is one of the biggest poker rooms in the country.<\/p>\n Twin River<\/strong> in Rhode Island is the only other full-scale poker room in the region (MGM Springfield<\/strong> will boast a poker room when it opens in August, as will Encore Boston Harbor<\/strong> when it opens next year).<\/p>\n Beyond that it\u2019s slim pickings. Hollywood Casino<\/strong> in Bangor, Maine has a small poker room, and charity rooms are available in New Hampshire.<\/p>\n What the region does possess poker-wise is a thriving underground and home game scene, as well as one of the most popular bar poker leagues in the country, The Eastern Poker Tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n New England also has a lot of disposable income.<\/p>\nNo surprises at the top<\/span><\/h2>\n
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The states that overperformed<\/span><\/h2>\n
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What\u2019s in the water in New England?<\/span><\/h2>\n