The second week of tournaments is in the books at the 2011 World Series of Poker at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and attendance continues to increase over last summer in both the cash games and tournaments. Cash-game action is up 12 percent since last year at the Rio according to World Series officials. It appears that more players are looking for live action since Black Friday at a variety of limits. Here is a look at the gainers and losers so far from the bracelet events. Read on below to also see how the bracelet winners from the first two weeks of the summer stack up.

Attendance Rises in Six Events, Bringing the Total to a Dozen

Another half dozen events posted larger attendance during the second week of play at the WSOP and in some cases the growth was massive. Event No. 18 ($1,500 no-limit hold’em) booked the largest growth in terms of attendance percentage (34.9 percent) and the number of players (816 players) of the summer this past weekend, proving the success of scheduling weekend warrior tournaments.

A few other tournaments saw double-digit growth this past week and they were the $10,000 deuce-to-seven lowball championship (24.8 percent), the $1,500 pot-limit hold’em event (17.7 percent), and the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event (16.3 percent). Posting smaller growth but increases nonetheless were the $1,000 no-limit hold’em event (4.4 percent) and the $1,500 no-limit hold’em shootout (3 percent).

Three Events Decline, Bringing the Total to Six

Three events have seen their attendance decline through the second week and it was the higher buy-in events that suffered. The $10,000 seven-card stud championship fell by 16 percent and the $10,000 Omaha eight-or-better world championship fell by 5 percent. Considering that these are classically smaller events the physical number of players that declined was just 34 players in the two events. The other tournament that saw attendance fall was the $2,500 six-handed limit hold’em tournament, which lost 30 players and declined by 7.8 percent.

The attendance figures at the 2011 WSOP will continue to be closely watched this summer as a barometer for the poker world post-Black Friday, and you can get a look at those numbers each week here at CardPlayer.com.

2011 WSOP Second Week Events Attendance Numbers:

Event No. 11 ($10,000 Omaha eight-or-better championship) – 202 players 2010 – 212 players (5 percent decline)

Event No. 12 ($1,500 triple chance no-limit hold’em) – new event 1,340 players

Event No. 13 ($1,500 no-limit hold’em shootout) – 1,440 players 2010 – 1,397 players (3 percent growth)

Event No. 14 ($3,000 limit hold’em) – new event 337 players

Event No. 15 ($1,500 pot-limit hold’em) – 765 players 2010 – 650 players (17.7 percent growth)

Event No. 16 ($10,000 deuce-to-seven lowball championship) – 126 players 2010 – 101 players (24.8 percent growth)

Event No. 17 ($1,500 H.O.R.S.E.) – 963 players 2010 – 828 players (16.3 percent growth)

Event No. 18 ($1,500 no-limit hold’em) – 3,157 players 2010 – 2,341 players (34.9 percent growth)

Event No. 19 ($2,500 six-handed limit hold’em) – 354 players 2010 – 384 players (7.8 percent decline)

Event No. 20 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em) – 3,175 players 2010 – 3,042 players (4.4 percent growth)

Event No. 21 ($10,000 seven-card stud championship) – 126 players 2010 – 150 players (16 percent decline)

2011 WSOP Statistics – Week 2:

NOTE: Official statistics provided by WSOP.com.

Through the conclusion of Event #17, the 2011 WSOP has attracted 15,695 entries. $30,271,010 in prize money has been awarded to winners, to date.

Through the conclusion of this tournament, the nationality of gold bracelet winners has been:

United States (13)

Great Britain (2)

Russia (1)

Canada (1)

Through the conclusion of this tournament, the national origin (birthplace) of winners has been:

United States (9)

Great Britain (2)

Ukraine (1)

Israel (1)

Russia (1)

Honduras (1)

Canada (1)

Indonesia (1)

Through the conclusion of this event, the home-states of (American) winners have been:

Nevada (3)

California (2)

Illinois (1)

New York (1)

New Jersey (1)

Florida (1)

Texas (1)

Tennessee (1)

Connecticut (1)

Indiana (1)

Through the conclusion of this tournament, the breakdown of professional poker players to semi-pros and amateurs who won gold bracelets is as follows:

Professional Players (14): Jake Cody, Cheech Barbaro, Eugene Katchalov, Allen Bari, Harrison Wilder, Matt Perrins, Sean Getzwiller, Viacheslav Zhukov, David Diaz, Andrew Badecker, Tyler Bonkowski, Brian Rast, John Juanda, Aaron Steury

Semi-Pros (2): Sean R. Drake, Amir Lehavot

Amateurs (1): Geffrey Klein