The World Series of Poker wraps up its 44th main event today when a champion is crowned at the final table in the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The tournament unsurprisingly was dominated by US players, who won 40 bracelets throughout the duration of the tournament.
There were players originating from 107 countries throughout the WSOP tournament, but the country with the highest number of gold bracelet winners after the US was Canada. Ten WSOP gold bracelets were won by Canadian players throughout the duration of the tournament – eleven including Daniel Negreanu’s inaugural victory of the WSOP Asia-Pacific tournament.
In addition to the bracelets, Canadian players won 561 cash prizes throughout the tournament, accumulating in over $10.5 million in winnings. Daniel Negreanu’s victory in Australia netted over $1 million alone, alongside the gold bracelet. After Canada, the UK reported the next highest number of gold bracelets with three victors and nearly $8.5 million in winnings.
The latest Canadian gold bracelet champion was Kristen Bicknell, originally from Ottawa who won the WSOP Ladies Championship at the beginning of the month. The 26-year old credits guides to online poker with helping her become a WSOP champion.
“I have worked really hard in poker the last couple of years. I mostly play cash games online, but I figured I would play the ladies event since it’s always fun.”
With Bicknell’s victory, Canada set a new record for the number of bracelets won by a nation other than the US. Members of the WSOP are describing the 44th annual tournament as Canada’s defining moment in poker, due to the country’s record-setting number of victories.
