During its four-year stint in London, England, the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Main Event had perhaps the most consistent attendance numbers in poker, attracting 362 entrants, 362 entrants, 334 entrants, and 346 entrants for the £10,000 buy-in tournament. Last year the WSOPE moved to Cannes, France and saw attendance skyrocket with 593 entrants (although it should be pointed out that the buy-in is now measured in Euros and not GB Pounds), making the move to France look like one of the best decisions in WSOP history. However, with the attendance numbers for the 2012 WSOPE Main Event now in, it appears that 2011 was just an outlier.

After Sunday’s Day 1b attendance at the WSOPE Main Event was tabulated, the total number of entries for the tournament topped-off at just 420 entrants. The huge drop in attendance (over a 30% year-over-year drop in attendance) is just a continuation of the preliminary events at the 2012 WSOPE which have seen attendance down across the board.

* Event #1 — €2,700 6-Max NLHE: 2011 entrants = 360: 2012 entrants = 227

* Event #2 — €1K NLHE: 2011 entrants = 771: 2012 entrants = 626

* Event #3 — €5K PLO: 2011 entrants = 180: 2012 entrants = 97

* Event #4 — €3,200 NLHE Shootout: 2011 entrants = 258: 2012 entrants =141

* Event #5 — €10k NLHE Mix-Max: 2011 entrants = 125: 2012 entrants = 96

* Event #6 — €1,650 PLO: 2011 entrants = 339 : 2012 entrants = 206

* Event #7 — €10k NLHE Main Event: 2011 entrants = 593: 2012 entrants = 420

So, with the disappointing information out of the way, let’s get down to what took place at the tables over in Cannes.

Of the 420 players who registered for the tournament, 203 managed to make it through to Day 2 of the event, which will restart on Monday. The big names were right at the top of the leader-board on both Day 1a and Day 1b, with names like Mike Mizrachi, Player of the Year leader Dan Smith, Daniel Negreanu, ElkY, Phil Hellmuth, and Eugene Katchalov.

Here is a look at the chip-leaders from both Day 1a and Day 1b.

1. Michael Mizrachi — 234,850

2. JC Alvarado — 180,675

3. Stephane Girault — 172,850

4. Sergii Baranov — 152,000

5. Martial Blangenwitsch — 129,800

6. Denis Biscaldi — 122,625

7. Michael Moise Kolkowicz — 122,150

8. Henry Tran — 118,750

9. Dan Smith — 110,525

10. Joao Barbosa — 101,925

Day 1b Chip-Leaders:

1. Bertrand Grospellier — 190,400

2. Daniel Weinman — 169,000

3. Daniel Negreanu — 137,500

4. Timothy Adams — 134,475

5. Vladislav Varlashin — 119,500

6. Phil Hellmuth — 116,150

7. Chino Rheem — 109,700

8. Philippe Boucher — 107,800

9. Eugene Katchalov — 103,500

10. Sergey Baburin — 101,400

Tags: Attendance Numbers, Cannes France, Continuation, Daniel Negreanu, ElkY, Gb Pounds, Leader Board, London England, main event, Mike Mizrachi, Mix Max, Outlier, phil hellmuth, Plo, Plummets, Skyrocket, Stint, World Series of Poker, WSOP, wsope

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