The 2007 World Series of Poker has kicked off with a real bang, and continues to astonish and set new records.

The largest number of poker players ever to enter a non-main event at the WSOP packed into the Rio All-Suite Casino and Hotel on 2 June. The third event of this year’s World Series attracted a whopping 2,998 entries.

The number shattered the old record of 2,891 set at last year’s WSOP. The previous record was set in Event #17 – the $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em championship, won by Jon Friedberg.

For this event, each player paid a $1,500 entry fee and will be playing no-limit hold’em. The tournament is expected to last three days. First place will pay the winner $727,012. Overall, 308 players will receive prize money. By comparison, the first $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament of 2006 attracted 2,776 participants. Hence, the new record represents an increase of about seven percent over the same event held the previous year.

The largest poker tournament in history remains the 2006 WSOP $10,000 buy-in championship event, with 8,773 players. The second-largest of all-time is the 2005 WSOP championship event, with 5,619 players. Accordingly, this latest event ranks at the third largest poker tournament of all-time.