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| World Series of Poker Shatters Prize Money and Participation Records |
| HARRAH'S ENTERTAINMENT LOGO
Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. logo. (PRNewsFoto)[JL] LAS VEGAS, NV USA | |||
35th Annual Tournament Attracts More than 12,460 Players
and Will Pay Nearly $42 Million in Total Prize Money
LAS VEGAS, May 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The world's richest sporting
event keeps getting richer - and so do its champions.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20021220/LAF055LOGO )
The winner of this year's World Series of Poker World Championship event,
which begins tomorrow, will walk out of Binion's Horseshoe Casino on May 28
with an estimated $4.5 million in cash. But the top finisher of the No-Limit
Texas Hold 'Em event won't be the only millionaire that day: based on this
year's record participation, the first four finishers will each win $1 million
or more. The top 180 finishers will receive prize money in excess of $10,000.
The mammoth payouts will come from a total prize pool of more than $41
million, a new poker tournament world record. Last year's World Series of
Poker tournament prize money was just under $22 million, and 2003 World
Champion Chris Moneymaker won a top prize of $2.5 million.
And while this year's prize money is unprecedented, so is the number of
people vying for the huge stacks of cash that have made the World Series of
Poker the most prestigious event of its kind.
Poker players from all over the globe have plunked down the $10,000 it
takes to compete in the world's most prestigious poker tournament. Hundreds
more have won a place in the event through a variety of qualifying tournaments
called satellites.
In all, 2,000 players are expected to go for the tournament's top prize,
and a total of 10,462 have already played in this year's first 32 World Series
of Poker events. Both numbers represent record participation for a live poker
tournament.
"The response has been astounding," said Howard Greenbaum, a World Series
of Poker tournament executive. "All of the top players from around the globe
are here, and more rising stars are arriving every day. There's no question
the 35th Annual World Series of Poker will be the greatest poker event ever
organized."
The World Championship Event begins at 1 p.m. tomorrow and will continue
daily through May 28, when the winner of the coveted World Series of Poker
gold bracelet is expected to be decided around midnight.
The World Series of Poker was hosted for the first time in 2004 by
Harrah's Entertainment, Inc., which purchased the rights to the tournament
earlier this year.
Founded 66 years ago, Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. owns or manages through
various subsidiaries 25 casinos in the United States, primarily under the
Harrah's brand name. Harrah's Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and
value with its valued customers through a unique combination of great service,
excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and
technology leadership.
More information about Harrah's is available at http://www.harrahs.com.
Information and daily updates from the World Series of Poker can be found at
http://www.horseshoewsop.com.
SOURCE Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.
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Photo Notes:
NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20021220/LAF055LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
CONTACT:
Dave Curley, +1-410-299-2363, or Brent
Burkhardt, +1-410-299-2528, both of TBC Public Relations for
Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.
