The eyebrows have been raised and the brows furrowed in a combination of thought and confusion as analysts struggle to come up with reasons to explain the record-breaking turnouts that have accompanied the first part of the World Series of Poker. At the heart of the current charge forward in poker is the knowledge that for the first time in history, WSOP sell-out statistics are batting 33% through the first nine events. Three of those nine events have sold out, much to the delight of many of the WSOP officials.

The World Series of Poker has a system for determining whether an event has sold out. It is a consistent formula that takes a look at players still in tournaments that started on previous days and factors in demand for current tournaments as well. Based on those statistics, Events 2, 7 and 9 all sold out and defied expectations.

Event 2 was the $1000 No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em Stimulus Special Tournament, which sold out and actually had the WSOP batting a full 50% for a while. No other events sold out until the 7th however, which left many analysts nodding their heads and marking down observations detailing that their predictions had been correct. However, the 7th event $1500 No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em sold out and then quickly on its heels the 9th event $1500 No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em 6-max also sold out. Both of these events were expected to tank, but the results have been completely contrary to what was expected.

In addition to these surprising sell-outs, there have also been some records broken elsewhere. The $1500 Omaha/8 tournament broke the record for Omaha with 918 people in the starting field and several other events within the starting nine have also had strong showings. This will have many experts scratching their heads, but it will have everyone taking a close look at the field for the $10,000 No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em Main Event. If that event draws fewer people, then it will be evident that many people that would normally have played there in good economic times chose to play in the cheaper tournaments instead.