The World Series of Poker staff is never stagnant, always bringing fresh ideas and events to the table. The 2014 WSOP NLHE Monster is a perfect example of this because the $1,500 buy-in event gives players a much larger-than-normal chip stack to start with. And the idea was a huge success as the Monster drew 7,864 players, making it the second-biggest live poker tournament in history.

Needless to say, WSOP organizers weren’t quite expecting this large of a showing at the Monster. A second flight was added to restart at 5pm, and additional flights were added throughout the first night. Seeing as how everybody who wanted to register still got into the tournament, the WSOP staff definitely deserves some praise here.

The first day saw 3,826 players survive, which is a little less than half of the original field. The second day cut the field down to around 2,150 grinders. Everybody is hopeful that the Monster can conclude after its now-scheduled five days, though it’s hard telling with such big chip stacks and over 2,000 runners left.

Obviously the NLHE Monster is very popular among 2014 WSOP players. However, one pro who questioned the event is 2010 November Niner Jeremy Ausmus. He offered mixed emotions about the tournament, saying that the big stacks do give the best players an advantage. However, he also said that the Monster offers less value than the Main Event and it’s time-consuming for the amount of money involved.

Ausmus admitted that there’s a lot of money at the top, with a $1.3 million first-place prize up for grabs. But for a poker pro who’s trying to maximize his value, a $1.5k deepstacked event that could run five days may not be the greatest use of time. Nevertheless, there are plenty of other happy, albeit tired, players in this field who would love a shot at the $1.3 million top payout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR095PYDCN0