World Series of Poker Main Event Begins Today With Record-Breaking Field and Richest Prize in Poker History; More than 8,000 Vying for Share of $75 Million Plus Prize Pool and Top Prize of More Than $10.8 Million.

LAS VEGAS -- The Main Event of the 2006 World Series of Poker Presented by Milwaukee's Best Light kicks off today at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino with the largest field of participants ever gathered for a single live poker event. The $10,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'em World Championship will pay a top prize of more than $10.8 million to the winner.

The World Series of Poker is the largest, richest and most prestigious live poker event in the world. The record field of more than 8,000 players guarantees an overall event prize pool of more than $75 million. Combined with the other events at this year's World Series of Poker, the total prize pool for all events will approach $150 million.

At the 2005 World Series of Poker, 5,619 players entered the Main Event. World Champion Joseph Hachem of Melbourne, Australia, took home $7.5 million.

The final table of the $10,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'em World Championship will begin Aug. 10.

"This year's World Series of Poker is turning out to be the biggest and best ever with record-breaking participation and a global field of players from more than 50 countries," said World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. "Everyone is here with the hope of winning a bracelet, and we're seeing dreams come true and poker history unfold."

The 46-event schedule at the 37th annual World Series of Poker has included multiple sell-outs and three separate events prior to the Main Event that attracted more than 2,700 players. It has featured the youngest player to ever win a World Series of Poker gold bracelet - 21-year-old Jeff Madsen, who quickly went on to become the youngest player ever to win two gold bracelets.

At the other end of the spectrum, 80-year-old Kuei Chi Chang, who had never played tournament poker prior to this year's World Series of Poker, finished in the money twice in a matter of days. The Las Vegas resident finished 52nd out of a whopping 1,068 players in one event and 42nd out of 415 in another.

Another highlight came earlier this week when Phil Hellmuth, Jr. made history by becoming just the third person in World Series of Poker history to win a 10th gold bracelet. He joins poker legends Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan as the only individuals to achieve this milestone.

Through the first 38 events, the 37th annual World Series of Poker has generated 35,727 total player registrations, surpassing the previous record of more than 32,000 set last year. With the addition of the Main Event, total player registrations in 2006 will be nearly 44,000.

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