The champ has arrived. Espen Jorstad, who entered Day 1c, announced “shuffle up and deal” to kickstart Wednesday’s session of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event one year after taking down this same tournament for $10 million.
In 2022, the Norwegian poker pro took down the second largest Main Event ever (8,663 players). This year’s tournament appears to be on pace to crack the 2006 record of 8,773 entries, won by Jamie Gold.
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PokerNews caught up with the reigning champ while he registered. He said he doesn’t feel any added pressure in the Main Event being the defending winner, but he admits he could run into one issue this year.
“I just know that I can’t bluff this year,” the WSOP App Thrill Team member said with a laugh, acknowledging that many players in the field will want to take out the defending champion. “They want to tell their story to their friends back home.”
Poker Champ Off and Running
At around 12:30 p.m. PT, Jorstad took his seat inside Horseshoe Las Vegas and was dealt the first hand in his title defense. He said his mindset entering the Main Event as the champion hasn’t changed compared to last year on Day 1.
“It’s not like I’m especially good in this tournament, I just happened to run really good last year,” the always humble Jorstad continued. “The odds of doing that again are miniscule.”
Jorstad, like Gold, predicts the 2023 WSOP Main Event will set a record for attendance. Days 1a and 1b combined for 2,158 players, a huge spike compared to the 1,780 last year. The WSOP is preparing for a massive turnout on Day 1d (Thursday) and there is a potential that the early stages will be played 10-handed to accommodate demand.
There were a number of big name players already seated for the Day 1c session at the time of publishing, including Phil Laak, Joe Stapleton, Stephen Chidwick, and Justin Bonomo. Two other past winners – Ryan Riess (2013) and Koray Aldemir (2021) — have also been spotted at the Shoe.
Registration will remain open until the conclusion of Level 7, the second level of Day 2d (Saturday).