Player participation increased at WSOP last year

One event, a no-limit hold'em heads-up challenge, increased the buy-in from us$ 10,000 to us$ 25,000 and drew 128 players, half of what the event drew in 2010. Three events, however, have increased their number of participants by more than 10 %.

Through the 11 events, the World Series of Poker prize pool is almost us$ 21.1 million, up 5.7 % from us$ 19.9 million a year ago. The heads-up event didn't have as many participants as last year, but the increased entry fee grew the event's prize pool by almost us$ 640,000.

Whether the trends hold through the tournament's remaining 47 events is still up for debate. "I really do believe that poker is much bigger than anyone wanted to admit," World Series of Poker Executive Director Ty Stewart said Tuesday. "It's not just American players. We're still seeing the numbers of foreign players continue to increase."

Last year's World Series of Poker drew a record 72,966 participants from 117 countries and offered a prize pool of us$ 187.1 million.

Tournament officials weren't sure what effect the U.S. Department of Justice crackdown on Internet poker, which put three of the world's largest online gaming sites off-limits to American players, would have on the World Series of Poker.

Two of the sites, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker, have not refunded American poker players any of the money they had on account. PokerStars said it has repaid players more than us$ 100 million.

At the outset of the World Series of Poker, Stewart said he was worried that players with bankrolls tied up in the online sites might have trouble entering the tournament. He's been happily proven wrong. "We're not being naive, but we believe there is a strong demand for the game from poker players," Stewart said.

Still in question is what impact the crackdown will have on the tournament's Main Event, the us$ 10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em World Championship, which begins play on July 7. Last year's Main Event drew 7,319 participants, second-highest in the tournament's history to the 8,773 entries in 2006, when participants could qualify through Internet poker sites.

In 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act went into effect and the World Series of Poker ended direct participation from online sites.

Stewart said many casinos around the country offer satellite poker tournaments, with the grand prize winner earning a seat in the Main Event. As such, he's hopeful Main Event entries will continue at recent levels. "Players are gravitating back to traditional brick-and-mortar casinos," Stewart said. "We continue to be optimistic. We've met out expectations and we've exceeded everyone else's."