World Series of Poker organisers believe the 47th Annual Festival is on course to become the largest participated in the games history after crunching the numbers at the midway point; the UK win their third bracelet courtesy of Phillip McAllister, and much more.

Players at the 47th Annual World Series of Poker have blown through 35 of the 69 planned events like a hurricane in Kansas. It’s the midway point making it a good time to check on progress.

Last year was a record breaker for the WSOP. Never before had the foot traffic been so high. Organisers are quietly confident that record will fall in the next 3-4 weeks.

The first 35 events appealed to 59,507 entrants, down slightly on the 59,771 that were the glue for the 46th Annual jaunt into the desert. And by my count that makes the average attendance 1,700 entrants. That number increases to 124,844 participants when you include Daily Deepstacks and satellites, and that’s a 6.7% improvement on the 116,977 who entered this time last year.