The 2010 WSOP started way back on May 28, 2010, when 721 Casino Employee’s took part in Gold Bracelet Event #1.

The 721 entrants, was a decline of 17% from the year earlier.  But, this turned out to be the anomaly of the summer, as participation skyrocketed throughout the remainder of the 41st Annual World Series of Poker, including Event #57, the WSOP Main Event.

Now that the WSOP Main Event Day 1D registration is officially closed, the final numbers are in.

Here’s how the Main Event shaped up in 2010:

ENTRANTS: 7,319

PRIZE POOL: $68,798,600

1st PLACE PRIZE: $8,944,138

This means the 2010 WSOP Main Event became the second-largest live poker tournament ever, only bested by the 2006 WSOP Main Event.

The total prize pool is the second-largest in history as well.

The winner of the 2010 WSOP Main Event will walk away with more money than Joe Cada did last year, and more than the COMBINED amounts that the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500, U.S. Open (golf) and U.S. Open (tennis) winners took home.

Participants from 117 different nations around the world came to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in 2010 to compete in the 41st running of the World Series of Poker.

This year’s WSOP awarded the most prize money in its history and had the most entrants ever.  Overall, attendance increased more than 20% over last year’s record numbers.

Source: WSOP.com