6,358 is the magic number

That's the total number of participants at this years main event. You may remember my last prediction after the fabulous start with event #1? I put it to 6,000+ and was quite close with it. As I was close with predicting last years number ;-)

So what does this mean for the poker world and the WSOP? In my opinion this is a great number. There was almost no way that we get a new record for various reasons. But there were enough reasons (esp. UIGEA) that the number could have been much lower. The WSOP 2007 is the second biggest main event ever (a few more players than 2005) and that is just great. It's great for the future of the WSOP and it's a clear sign that poker is still running hot.

Just to quote Nolan Dalla again: "Anyone who thinks the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) will kill the WSOP is in for a big surprise."

While I'm writing this we are sitting in a pub next to our hotel at Niagara Falls. Of course I'm checking the WSOP main event updates and on the table next to us is a bunch of people partying. This group is obviously from Australia. How do I know? Well, since the 2005 main-event there is probably no poker player in the world that doesn't know what "Aussie, Aussie, Ausie, Oy, Oy Oy" means ;-)