It was billed as the largest single-tournament guarantee in poker history. And it will now go down as the largest single-tournament guarantee met in poker history.
The magic number of 2,400 was reached midway through Day 1d, and by the time registration closed on Day 2b the 2025 WSOP Paradise $25,000 Super Main Event field topped out at 2,891 players.
Largest Poker Tournament Prize Pools in History
The size of the tournament is hard to truly fathom. However, one way of quantifying things is that the 2025 WSOP Paradise Main Event is now the eighth-largest poker tournament prize pool in history, and the largest if you exclude Las Vegas WSOP Main Events.
It was a tournament guarantee described as "bonkers" by Daniel Negreanu, when it was first announced earlier this year. But fast forward four months and the numbers don't lie.
Tournament officials confirmed that the guarantee was surpassed halfway through Day 1d — the fourth of four starting flights in this enormous event — with late registration closing the following day.
It slowly became clear over the opening flights that the WSOP was actually going to pull this off, and reach its lofty goal. Players have clearly taken to the format or simply been pulled here by the guarantee.
Either way, the event has gone smoothly, and all eyes look to how enormous the first prize could possibly be!
The numbers had looked good from the outset, with 869 players jumping into Day 1a. Satellites qualifiers from GGPoker, aspiring world champions and former bracelet champions, were joined by Negreanu on one of his six bullets on the opening flight.
The field cracked the 1,000 mark on Day 1b, and coupled with players registering on Day 2a, held on December 12, and over 800 players across Day 1c and 1d — the guarantee was met.
Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019. He now works as Managing Editor.
He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.
