2015 World Series of Poker

Event #5: The Colossus $565 No-Limit Hold'em, which featured a $5 million guaranteed prize pool, officially attracted 22,374 entrants to set a new record for largest live poker tournament.

The tournament, which created a prize pool of $11,187,000 (the largest in any live poker event under $5,000 buy-in), crushed the previous record of 8,773 players set in the 2006 WSOP Main Event. However, the official numbers caused a controversy when it was revealed that 2,241 players would be paid with the winner receiving $638,880.

It was the second number – the top prize – that caused a stir as many players believed it to be way too low at just 5.7% of the prize pool. However, WSOP officials defended the payout, pointing out that it represented a 1,130 times return on investment and was the largest prize for a $500 buy-in event in poker's history.

Controversy aside, the bubble actually burst five spots off the money when nine players were eliminated on the same hand during hand-for-hand play. That meant all nine of them split $4,384, which was the combined amount of the four payable spots.

Among the hundreds to receive paydays were Will "The Thrill" Failla (2,217th - $1,096), Greg Raymer (2,161st - $1,096), Vanessa Rousso (1,558th - $1,957), Bernard Lee (1,449th - $2,125), and Chris Tryba (1,198th).

Speaking of payouts, there was an issue toward the end of the night where more than a thousand players, many of who had looming flights, were unable to cash out due to a system crash with the payout computers. While most players were content to come back the next day, others were not. After several hours, the payout situation resolved itself and money was dispersed.

At the start of the day 3,447 players hit the felt, but by the end of the night approximately 500 remained. Among the players to bag big were WSOP Circuit stud Valentin Vornicu, who is over a million, as well as Larry Elliott (730,000), Shahen Martirosian (715,000), and Adam Lamphere (650,000), just to name a few.

Players will return at 2 p.m. local time on Monday for Day 3 action.

Welcome to the 2015 World Series of Poker!

PokerNews will not be the live coverage provider for this year's 46th annual WSOP, but our famous MyStack app will be functional for players that have it installed on their mobile devices.

Brought to you by PokerNews, the app connects poker players in poker events. If you are playing in a poker tournament with the MyStack app available, you can now update your own chip count, post comments, and even share photos with other PokerNews members from around the world. You'll also be able to follow the MyStack feed if you want to check in on other's progress at the events, and even create a list of favorite players to follow.

You can download the app via Google Play by clicking here.

You can download the app via the iTunes App Store by clicking here.

You can also check out all of our coverage from the 2015 WSOP right here, sponsored by Skrill!