What if the WSOP Awarded Olympic Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals?

With the 2016 Summer Olympics now in full swing, and only weeks removed from the most recent World Series of Poker, the similarities between both events are striking.

The greatest players from every conceivable game, variant, and discipline gather to compete on the grandest stage, each vying for the hardware which defines excellence within their field. Hundreds of countries are proudly represented, so patriotism is always in the air whenever a national anthem signals the start of a long-awaited celebration.

And every so often, an elite individual effort transcends the entire affair, leaving the world to watch in wonder as one person pushes the boundaries of what is possible.

Whether it’s American swimming legend Michael Phelps winning gold three times to start his Summer Games, or Jason Mercier nearly doing the same to kick off this year’s WSOP, these international spectacles have a way of bringing out the very best in the elite competitors who attend.

Along with impressive personal performances, the Olympics also provide a platform for countries to test their collective mettle.

As the games continue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the United States tops the current medal count, both in terms of gold (28) and total podium appearances (86). Great Britain sits in second-place when it comes to gold (19), and third in overall medals (50). Conversely, China has won the third-most gold medals (17), and is second only to the U.S. overall (51).

But how would the medal leaderboard look if we turned the focus back to the other Rio? That’s what PokerNews wanted to know, so we dove deep into the data to come up with the following WSOP medal count analysis.

For the sake of this discussion, bracelet wins are as good as gold medals, while runner-up finishes equate to silver-medal showings, and third-place results return the bronze.

The Main Event has been paused pending the November Nine, leaving a total of 68 completed bracelet events at the 2016 WSOP. With three podium spots apiece, there would normally be 204 “medals” won over the course of the summer, but the addition of a new $1,000 Tag-Team No-Limit Hold’em event added four more medals to the equation (one extra bracelet, plus two more silvers for the three-player runner-up team, and an additional bronze to the two-man third-place tandem).

All told, 208 medals were won during more than six weeks of WSOP action, and predictably, the United States took home most of the hardware.

American Medal Count

In winning 53 of the 69 bracelets awarded, American players dominated the proceedings altogether, while adding 41 silver medals and taking the bronze 45 times.

Mercier’s incredible gold-silver-gold blitz in the prestigious $10,000 Championship level events, on his way to securing eventual Player of the Year honors, highlighted Team USA’s tear.

Ian Johns was another star, joining Mercier in the double-bracelet club.

And even though it’s likely little consolation, Justin Bonomo would’ve been the most decorated medalist at the WSOP Olympiad, earning two silvers and two bronzes while just missing out on his second career bracelet. That makes five runner-up results and three third-place finishes on the WSOP stage for Bonomo over his career, making him kindred spirits of sorts with American swimmer Shirley Babashoff, who won six silver medals during the 1972 and 1976 games to tie for the most consolation prizes in Olympic history.

But even considering those impressive hauls, of the 101,096 total entries spanning every event but the Main, American players accounted for 84,027 buy-ins — or 83.1 percent of the combined WSOP field. When judged on a proportional basis, the U.S. contingent actually came up quite short, putting themselves on the podium with a first, second, or third-place finish just 66.8 percent of the time.

This was an assault based on volume alone, as the Americans had …

continue reading in source www.pokernews.com