2015 WSOP.....A Look at the Numbers

With the WSOP Main Event final table set, an analysis of the statistics of the 46th running of poker's most celebrated festival turned up some rather interesting results in several categories.

Though the final tallies won't be in until a world champion is declared in mid-November, a bit of number crunching tells us that 20 players will have walked away from the Rio with cashes totalling at least a million dollars. Jonathan Duhamel leads the pack at present with a total of $4,048,137 on the strength of his $111,111 One Drop title that was good for $3,989,985.

Duhamel, of course, was already a millionaire prior to his successful 2015 WSOP. As were other players who cashed for more than a million this summer including Daniel Colman ($1,544,121), Jason Mercier ($1,351,930) and Phil Hellmuth ($1,020,723).

New to the millionaires club thanks to a successful 2015 WSOP were players such as Anthony Zinno, who cashed for $1,889,183 over five events and now has lifetime WSOP earnings over $2 million. Zinno enjoyed a remarkable summer, as his lowest finish among those five cashes was 7th place. His best was a gold bracelet win in the $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller for $1,122,196.

Also a new millionaire (in poker winnings) thanks to finishing runner-up in the $111,111 One Drop is William Klein, who came in second behind Duhamel in total earnings at the 2015 WSOP with $2,466,522 - pending the outcome of the ME. Klein was already a millionaire in the business world, which allows him to play poker perhaps with greater abandon than those who don't have his disposable bankroll.

Incidentally, Klein donated all his winnings to charity. The retired businessman topped all earners in the 50+ Seniors category at this year's WSOP, more than doubling the winnings of the runner-up, an old-timer by the name of Phil Hellmuth.

Most Cashes

Making the most trips to the Rio Cashier's cage to collect their winnings were three players who each cashed 10 times this summer. Eric Baldwin, Mark Radoja and Joe Kuether all fell one short of tying the record of 11. Honorable mention goes to Mike 'goleafsgoeh' Leah, who cashed in nine events.

Also worth mentioning is the number of cashes among the 50+ crowd, as Portugal's Fernando Brito did so eight times. Right behind Brito and managing to excel at typically a young man's game that requires an abundance of mental stamina were three Seniors-eligible pros. David Chiu, Allen 'chainsaw' Kessler and Eli Elezra all cashed seven times this year.

Top Ladies

Among the ladies, Kelly Minkin and Liina Vark both cashed four times. However, Vark's largest cash was for $4,563 and her best finish was 170th place.

Minkin, on the other hand, made a deep run in the Main Event, eventually busting in 29th place for $211,821. Poker fans and players were rooting her on and hoping for a final table appearance for the Pennsylvania attorney, but it was not to be in 2015.

Also finishing 38th in the Millionaire Maker for $29,463, Minkin's total take at the WSOP was $248,814. That was good for second best behind Natasha Barbour's (photo) $289,378.

Barbour cashed three times this summer, just missing a gold bracelet by landing runner-up in Event #20, $1,500 NLHE. It was good for a payday of $284,911, cementing Barbour's status as the top female earner at the 2015 WSOP.

Gold Bracelets

Tops in WSOP titles were Brian Hastings and Max Pescatori, who both won gold twice. Hastings cashed in seven events for a total of $879,631. Pescatori equaled that number of cashes, earning less than $600,000 in so doing.

Americans took home 47 of the 67 WSOP gold bracelets awarded thus far, while Canada and the UK each grabbed four. Two bracelets went home with Austrians and two more headed to Italy. Pescatori, 'The Italian Pirate,' has both of the latter.

Just Misses

Paul Volpe finished runner-up in two events, the only player to just miss a gold bracelet twice this summer. Both of those events featured buy-ins of $10,000, adding $206,620 and $197,048 to his bankroll.

Dan Smith and Don Zewin landed in 3rd place two times each. Both were gunning for their first WSOP titles and will have to try again at future WSOP events.