Only four players registered for the $5,300 NLH High Roller, so it was canceled. [Image: WSOP Online]

With the post-pandemic poker boom continuing to forge ahead, a World Series of Poker event not fielding enough players is something nobody would expect. But it happened. On Tuesday, the $5,300 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller event of the 2024 WSOP Online for US players was canceled because only a handful of players showed up.

The tournament was deleted from the lobby and the four registrants were refunded their money.

Slated for 4pm PT on October 15, Event #13 required a minimum of eight players to run. It got half of that. Four players. The tournament was deleted from the lobby and the four registrants were refunded their money.

Apparently, whoever runs the World Series of Poker’s social media accounts was asleep at the wheel, or the posts are automated, as WSOP posted to X 45 minutes after the tournament should have started promoting the event.

Because it was a US-based tournament and open only to WSOP.com players in Michigan, New Jersey, and Nevada, it was never going to get as many as a WSOP Online event on GGPoker, but to only attract four players is awful.

The cancelation has rekindled discussions of the pitfalls of “bracelet inflation” and late registration. With the expansion of official bracelet events both live and online, many don’t value gold bracelets as much as they used to because there are just so many to be had.

Players, especially high rollers, are also very used to entering tournaments late at this point. Some may have been waiting to register, but the WSOP canceled the tourney before any potential late entrants could pull the trigger.