I did not pay for the entry as I participated in the CTF, though Defcon is cheap compared to Black Hat, which also is a lot more about being enterprise with 25% of the participants being HR or recruiters, 25% feds and then some media and actual security people. Black Hat is about $1800 for early birds and $2200 at the door, and that's just for the briefings without any training.
You definitely should consider going next year Kulverstukas!
Hello to you WirelessDesert, I don't speak no afrikaans......