WSOP Comparisons

In a post (Minnesota at the 2015 WSOP) I made earlier today I included a table that compared the WSOP earnings for each state.  It was pointed out that it really isn't an apples to apples comparison.  California is the tenth largest economy in the world, does it make sense to compare it to Minnesota?  Well what does make sense.

What about earnings per capita?  That would put states on equal footing with their population.  (I produced that table and it is included below.  As it turns out Nevada is first and Minnesota is  15.)  Perhaps a factor of distance to Las Vegas should be added in? (That may also be possible it seems like too much work so I'm not including that chart.)

Selfishly I'm looking for something that shows what I already know, Minnesota kicks ass at poker.  But what is a real measure?  Maybe money earned per entry?  The WSOP doesn't publish entries, so that isn't possible.  Perhaps actual ROI, what is the expected return on investment for each state?  Again that would require overall buy-in information that isn't possible.

One interesting piece of information is dollars earned per poker player in the state.  Some states have a lower concentration of people who play poker in casinos.  I honestly don't know what the nation-wide average percentage is and how MN compares to the rest.

What are your thoughts?  What would be a meaningful way to compare the WSOP accomplishments of different states?

WSOP Earnings Per Capita

Rank	State	Earnings	Population	$ per person
1	NV	$15,092,695	2,839,099	$5.32
2	MA	$8,103,505	6,745,408	$1.20
3	FL	$12,217,581	19,893,297	$0.61
4	CA	$22,457,208	38,802,500	$0.58
5	CT	$1,900,093	3,596,677	$0.53
6	NJ	$4,693,219	8,938,175	$0.53
7	CO	$2,703,303	5,355,866	$0.50
8	ID	$814,880	1,634,464	$0.50
9	AK	$333,008	736,732	$0.45
10	MO	$2,562,808	6,063,589	$0.42
11	MD	$2,473,036	5,976,407	$0.41
12	AZ	$2,708,151	6,731,484	$0.40
13	WA	$2,838,746	7,061,530	$0.40
14	NY	$7,831,884	19,746,227	$0.40
15	MN	$2,111,131	5,457,173	$0.39
16	PA	$4,588,263	12,787,209	$0.36
17	IL	$4,050,160	12,880,580	$0.31
18	TX	$8,099,511	26,956,958	$0.30
19	OH	$3,450,863	11,594,163	$0.30
20	HI	$421,721	1,419,561	$0.30
21	OK	$1,062,396	3,878,051	$0.27
22	LA	$1,131,707	4,649,676	$0.24
23	TN	$1,489,151	6,549,352	$0.23
24	OR	$866,845	3,970,239	$0.22
25	KS	$577,195	2,904,021	$0.20
26	KY	$861,596	4,413,457	$0.20
27	DC	$122,622	658,893	$0.19
28	MI	$1,744,763	9,909,877	$0.18
29	NE	$326,120	1,881,503	$0.17
30	IN	$945,174	6,596,855	$0.14
31	SD	$120,269	853,175	$0.14
32	ND	$101,817	739,482	$0.14
33	UT	$388,124	2,942,902	$0.13
34	WI	$759,208	5,757,564	$0.13
35	RI	$137,599	1,055,173	$0.13
36	ME	$158,905	1,330,089	$0.12
37	IA	$365,592	3,107,126	$0.12
38	GA	$1,120,300	10,097,343	$0.11
39	NC	$1,084,393	9,943,964	$0.11
40	VA	$899,135	8,326,289	$0.11
41	AR	$316,843	2,966,369	$0.11
42	NH	$140,640	1,326,813	$0.11
43	NM	$209,261	2,085,572	$0.10
44	MT	$97,956	1,023,579	$0.10
45	AL	$436,141	4,849,377	$0.09
46	WY	$52,373	584,153	$0.09
47	WV	$136,593	1,850,326	$0.07
48	DE	$65,722	935,614	$0.07
49	SC	$235,731	4,832,482	$0.05
50	VT	$27,116	626,562	$0.04
51	MS	$102,920	2,994,079	$0.03
52	PR	$14,417	3,548,397	$0.00

Minnesota at the 2015 WSOP

Hopefully all Minnesota poker fans have been following the exploits of Minnesota Poker players at the 2015 WSOP at MN Poker Magazine.  Here are some interesting tidbits I thought worth mentioning.

2015 WSOP for MN Players by the numbers

• 115 - # of cashes made by MN players
• 87 -  # of MN players that cashed in events
• 26 - the number of MN players with more than one cash
• 35 - # of events with MN players in the money
• 6 - the number of MN players at final tables
• 2 - the number bracelets won by MN players
• $2,111,131 - amount of money earned by MN players

Top stories

• Christian Pham won event 23 $1,500 no-limit deuce-to-seven single draw after registering for it by mistake.  He had never played the game before and the event garnered mainstream media coverage.  He also had three other cashes for a total of $109,875.
• John Reading had an epic performance with 6 cashes 2 final table and one bracelet for earnings of $491,940, tripling his lifetime Hendon Mob earnings.
• Blake Bohn made day 7 of the WSOP Main Event finishing in 23rd after fighting for an appearance on poker's biggest stage, the November Nine. He also had one other cash for earnings of $268,021
• Bradley Berman made day 6 of the WSOP Main Event finishing in 46th for $137,300
• D.J. Buckley had five cashes including one final table earning $158,701.
• Everett Carlton had five cashes for $17,596.
• Hunter Cichy had 4 cashes including second place in the online event for $147,786
• Lance Harris had 4 cashes for $55,649.
• Wade Woelfel had 4 cashes for $15,553.

Comparisons

• California had the most earnings of any state at $22 million.  Minnesota's $2.1 million earned a respectable 16th place.
• US players cashed for $126 million at the WSOP.  Canadian players came in second at $11 million.

Tables

WSOP Earnings by State

Rank	State	Earnings
1	CA	$22,457,208
2	NV	$15,092,695
3	FL	$12,217,581
4	MA	$8,103,505
5	TX	$8,099,511
6	NY	$7,831,884
7	NJ	$4,693,219
8	PA	$4,588,263
9	IL	$4,050,160
10	OH	$3,450,863
11	WA	$2,838,746
12	AZ	$2,708,151
13	CO	$2,703,303
14	MO	$2,562,808
15	MD	$2,473,036
16	MN	$2,111,131
17	CT	$1,900,093
18	MI	$1,744,763
19	TN	$1,489,151
20	LA	$1,131,707
21	GA	$1,120,300
22	NC	$1,084,393
23	OK	$1,062,396
24	IN	$945,174
25	VA	$899,135
26	OR	$866,845
27	KY	$861,596
28	ID	$814,880
29	WI	$759,208
30	KS	$577,195
31	AL	$436,141
32	HI	$421,721
33	UT	$388,124
34	IA	$365,592
35	AK	$333,008
36	NE	$326,120
37	AR	$316,843
38	SC	$235,731
39	NM	$209,261
40	ME	$158,905
41	NH	$140,640
42	RI	$137,599
43	WV	$136,593
44	DC	$122,622
45	SD	$120,269
46	MS	$102,920
47	ND	$101,817
48	MT	$97,956
49	DE	$65,722
50	WY	$52,373
51	VT	$27,116
52	PR	$14,417
53	AP	$3,320
54	VI	$3,320
55	UK	$2,664
56	GU	$2,321

WSOP Earnings By Country

Rank	Country	Earnings
1	United States	$126,025,937
2	Canada	$11,925,065
3	United Kingdom	$7,586,242
4	Germany	$5,530,114
5	Russia	$3,353,775
6	France	$3,085,988
7	Brazil	$2,707,695
8	Austria	$2,431,962
9	Israel	$2,180,810
10	Italy	$1,647,277
11	Ireland	$1,491,277
12	Spain	$1,128,857
13	Denmark	$1,024,503
14	Australia	$1,015,744
15	Argentina	$977,925
16	Ukraine	$888,165
17	Belarus	$862,665
18	Czech Republic	$752,457
19	Norway	$745,107
20	Thailand	$700,235
21	Japan	$653,072
22	Sweden	$650,982
23	Greece	$629,731
24	Belgium	$569,494
25	Netherlands	$505,539
26	Finland	$471,191
27	Taiwan	$435,499
28	Bulgaria	$425,853
29	India	$304,178
30	Lithuania	$246,806
31	Hungary	$213,375
32	Mexico	$210,728
33	Portugal	$193,659
34	Philippines	$172,369
35	Colombia	$164,896
36	China	$156,999
37	Azerbaijan	$127,986
38	Hong Kong	$123,364
39	Switzerland	$113,521
40	Malta	$105,103
41	South Korea	$94,772
42	Luxembourg	$89,762
43	Monaco	$81,830
44	Venezuela	$76,494
45	Panama	$71,183
46	Uruguay	$57,727
47	Chad	$55,661
48	Moldova	$54,545
49	Slovenia	$54,154
50	Puerto Rico	$49,630
51	Serbia	$40,108
52	Latvia	$39,499
53	Singapore	$39,444
54	South Georgia	$36,448
55	Croatia	$34,396
56	New Zealand	$34,315
57	Chile	$34,048
58	Iran	$32,772
59	Costa Rica	$31,112
60	Bolivia	$29,101
61	Estonia	$26,268
62	United Arab Emirates	$26,036
63	Senegal	$22,091
64	Poland	$18,904
65	Nauru	$18,650
66	Lebanon	$18,580
67	Guatemala	$18,074
68	Malaysia	$17,996
69	Burundi	$17,694
70	South Africa	$15,422
71	Bosnia	$14,270
72	Virgin Islands	$13,730
73	Turkey	$13,599
74	Belize	$12,400
75	Paraguay	$10,368
76	Trinidad And Tobago	$10,268
77	Gabon	$8,344
78	Cuba	$7,336
79	Honduras	$7,001
80	Montserrat	$6,990
81	Kiribati	$6,593
82	Barbados	$6,070
83	Qatar	$5,365
84	Seychelles	$5,064
85	Marshall Islands	$4,929
86	Kazakhstan	$4,865
87	Romania	$3,783
88	Georgia	$3,776
89	Cote D'ivoire	$3,635
90	Jamaica	$3,607
91	Kuwait	$2,985
92	Jordan	$2,740
93	North Korea	$2,723
94	Guinea-Bissau	$2,517
95	Saint Lucia	$2,517
96	Bermuda	$2,168
97	Turks And Caicos Islands	$2,012
98	-	$1,832
99	Tajikistan	$1,820
100	Nicaragua	$1,655