Upcoming Milestones and Record Possibilities at the 2025 WSOP Part 1

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May 25, 2025 8 min read Last updated Oct 23, 2025

In this two-part series, poker historian Robert Jen, who is the self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Unknown Poker Historian," dives deep into the record books to offer up fun facts and stats heading into the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP), and what records poker player and fans can expect to be broken this summer. He also offers up some long-standing records that have a chance to fall, as well as some longshot records that probably won't be broken this year, but you never know.

You can also learn A LOT more about WSOP history and records by checking out his Poker Omnibus W50P at w50p.com.

PokerNews will be offering live updates from all 100 live WSOP bracelet events at the Horseshoe and Paris, and you can bet we'll be keeping a close eye on the following scenarios to see if and when a new record might be set.

Oh, and if you want to learn more about Robert Jen and see him talk about various records, check out his recent one-on-one exclusive interview with Chad Holloway on the PokerNews Podcast.

Poker Atop the Charts

"Poker players are rock stars!" – Doyle Brunson, writing only partly in jest in his September 19, 2009, Gambling911 article.

The Poker Boom, and especially its almost non-stop television coverage on numerous networks after Chris Moneymaker's 2003 WSOP Main Event miracle, made a lot of poker players world-famous, instantly recognizable to even casual poker fans, and, for the most skilled and most fortunate, rich. The goal of almost every participant in the WSOP is to take home a WSOP bracelet, poker's equivalent of reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100, forever branding you as the best of the best. Reaching a final table (ninth place or better) is like reaching the top ten on the music charts, while cashing is like making it onto the charts at all.

Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler" (the theme song for the 1979 WSOP Main Event after topping the Country charts and reaching #16 on the Hot 100 on March 3), Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" (#1 on April 11, 2009), and Beyonce's "Texas Hold 'Em" (#1 for two weeks in March 2024) have spanned the decades of the WSOP.

On the flip side, in April 2011, Rebecca Black's "Friday" was almost as disastrous for American pop music as Black Friday was for American online poker. But buying your way to success is the American way, sort of like rebuying 24 times to win a six-figure third-place prize (yes, I know, Daniel Negreanu, who has since repented, is Canadian, but he's been living in Las Vegas so long, he's definitely one of us).

I got my first FM radio (i.e., "permanently borrowed" from my Mom) in May 1977, when the Eagles' "Hotel California" was number one on the charts. I truly enjoyed the song even though I had no clue what "colitas" were. For the record, it means marijuana, which 11-year-old me was unfamiliar with until Paul McCartney got busted for possession in Japan two years later (yeah, I also didn't know the etymology of the Doobie Brothers either).

That same summer, my street-smart city cousin taught me poker. We played draw and stud poker with pennies and nickels in my bedroom. I read my first poker book, checking out Walter Gibson's Poker Is the Name of the Game from the local library.

My love for music and poker has continued to grow stronger over the half-century since.

A Quick Look Back at 2024

The WSOP outdoes itself annually with more bracelet events, more entries, more rebuys, more players paid, and more prize money distributed. Every year, the WSOP's live and online festivals surpass significant milestones, while tournaments and players break major records.

Last year, the WSOP gave out its 2,500th bracelet and a couple of weeks later ran its 2,500th tournament (remember they've hosted both doubles and tag team events). In year 55, the 100,000th different player collected a prize, and the Main Event topped 150,000 total entries since its inception in 1971. What milestones are destined to be reached this year? Which ones are we rooting for that probably won't happen?

Ryan Riess increased the record for cashes in one year to 49. This record has fallen in five of the last six years, so who will get to 50 first?

Roland Israelashvili finally won his first bracelet after an incredible 253 cashes without one. What unwanted records will players shed this year?

Kristen Foxen set multiple women's records, including her fifth career bracelet, her fourth open bracelet, her second straight year with an open bracelet, and a $600,000 Main Event cash while outlasting 99.87% of the field. Liv Boeree collected a women's record $2,800,000 for fourth place in the Paradise Island $25,000 Main Event en route to a record year. What female records will fall this year? Will a woman finally reach the Main Event final table again? (Barbara Enright is getting lonely.)

Upcoming WSOP Milestones and Record Possibilities

What milestones are likely to be reached this year? What records will fall? Let's break down the most interesting possibilities by how probable they are.

GUARANTEED OR PRACTICALLY GUARANTEED {90-100%}

100th Bracelet to a Woman

A female will almost certainly take home a bracelet for the 100th time. The count stands at 97, and two Ladies events should take place (Las Vegas has one scheduled to begin June 26, and GGPoker should host one in August). That leaves just one open bracelet to be won and, except for 2022, women have scored every year since 2012, with an average of over 1¾ per year.

Female Bracelet Milestones

_{NOTE: Just eight days after Field, Vera Richmond became the first woman to win an open tournament, the $1,000 Ace-to-5 Draw, defeating a field of 77 for $38,500.}

100 Las Vegas Tournaments

The Las Vegas festival will feature 100 tournaments for the first time, starting with the $1,000 Mystery Millions Bounty and $500 Industry Employees events on May 27 and wrapping up fifty days later with the $1,000 Super Turbo No-Limit Hold 'Em on July 16.

Las Vegas Festival Milestones

500th Million-Dollar Prize

Not including mystery bounties, the WSOP will award its 500th seven-figure prize, possibly during the Main Event. The count stands at 475, and the WSOP gave out a record 69 million-dollar prizes last year.

Total Million-Dollar Prizes Awarded

_{NOTE: Brian Rast holds the record with five seven-figure cashes, and a total of 54 different players have collected multiple million-dollar prizes (126 of them), so the WSOP won't mint its 500th millionaire until 2026 (not counting players who were already rich).}

Cashes in a Decade

Roland Israelashvili cashed an even 100 times in the 2010s. In the 2020s, Daniel Negreanu already has 87 cashes, just one fewer than his runner-up total from the 2010s, while Israelashvili himself lurks two behind. They're both likely to beat this record, so the question is who will end up on top and be the poker world's Drake, who had a preposterous 197 Hot 100 songs in the 2010s.

Most Cashes in a Decade

Cashes in a Decade, Women

Kathy Liebert has already cashed 68 times in the 2020s. Liebert, Jessica Teusl (61), and J.J. Liu (57) needed only five years to smash Maria Ho's record of 50 in the 2010s. Liebert will continue to extend the record, but can Teusl, Liu, Jamie Kerstetter (50), Kristen Foxen (49), or Maria Ho herself (49) overtake her to become Rihanna, who had 45 songs reach the Hot 100 in the 2010s?

Most Cashes in a Decade, Women

70-90% of Happening

Events / Bracelets Awarded in One Year by the WSOP

Last year, 245 tournaments were featured, and 246 bracelets were awarded (130 live and 115 online events with one live team event). The WSOP will likely break these records this year and could reach the 250-tournament/250-bracelet milestones for the first time.

Most Events / Bracelets in a Year

Final Tables in a Decade

Daniel Negreanu reached 25 final tables in the 2010s. Negreanu has already made 22 final tables since 2020, and is the favorite to break his own record, but Jeremy Ausmus and Yuri Dzivielevski are hot on his heels with 21 in the race to be like Drake, who already has 45 Top 10 songs in the 2020s, smashing his own record of 33 in the 2010s.

Most Final Tables in a Decade

Final Tables in a Decade, Women

Annie Duke, Cyndy Violette, and Jen Harman all reached eight final tables in the 2000s. J.J. Liu and Kristen Foxen both need only two more final tables in the 2020s to break this and become the next Taylor Swift, who has already reached the Top 10 a woman's record 34 times in the 2020s.

Most Final Tables in a Decade, Women

Maybe Could Happen (50-70%)

Final Tables in One Year

Ryan Riess (2023), Yuri Dzivielevski (2023), and Jeremy Ausmus (2024) all made eight final tables in a year. A few extra events this year might be enough to enable a new record.

Most Final Tables in One Year

Cashes in One Year

Ryan Riess has sole ownership of the record for cashes in a year with 49 in 2024. But seven other players have topped 40 eight times between them in just the last two years, so a new record is in the cards.

Most Cashes in One Year

Main Event Cashes

Johnny Chan and Allen Cunningham have both made the money in the Main Event 11 times. Will either take the record for himself this year? Cunningham cashed last year, while Chan last cashed in 2023.

Most Cashes in the Main Event

Main Event Cashes, Women

Kathy Liebert and Maria Ho share the record with six Main Event cashes each. Ho, the Last Woman Standing Queen (a record three times), cashed last year, while Leibert last cashed in 2021, so either player could take this record for herself.

Most Cashes in the Main Event, Women

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