The World Series of Poker officially begins it’s 54th version today with the $500 casino employees and the $25,000 High Roller six-handed events, with a whopping 93 more tournaments to go until the final event July 17.
The second year on the strip at the newly rebranded Horseshoe (former Bally’s) and its sister property Paris, and WSOP officials declared they are determined to making this year’s Series’ the best in terms of registration numbers, particularly the Main Event
Main Event WILL break record
Last year, the Main Event came 110 players short of breaking the 2006 record of 8,773 entrants. That’s less than 1%, and it seemed to have bothered WSOP brass like Ty Stewart, its Executive Director.
“Last year, we were so close — 110 entries short, 1% away — so this year we put plans in place to make sure we got a lot more growth than 1%,” Stewart said.
Those included a “Main Event Maynia” last weekend where satellites were run in casinos throughout the world, as well as a 600-seat promises from the WSOP’s global online partner, GGPoker.
The Main Event’s first of four starting days is Monday, July 3, which kicks-off a week of Day 1s. Players have until Friday, July 7, to late-register for the Main Event. The remaining players will all be under the same roof July 10.
The Main Event is scheduled to end on Monday, July 17. Check out the structure sheet here.
The majors
Within the schedule are 11 High Roller events, starting with the opener. The most expensive event of the summer takes place June 16, with the $250,000 Super High Roller, a three-day event with a starting stack of 1.5 million.
It also has one rebuy.
PokerGO, the WSOP’s broadcast partner, will stream most of the High Roller events as part of this summer’s livestream package. The complete broadcast schedule can be found on PokerGO’s page.
The $50,000 Poker Players Championship isn’t considered a “high roller” event, but it is. The 2023 version has a little extra spice to it as Dan Cates won the last two of them.
Can he three-peat in 2023? And who is he going to dress up as if he makes his fourth final table in a row in this event? All-eyes will be on him starting June 18.
The minors
For the rest of us, there are dozens and dozens of tournaments with buy-ins $1,000 or lower.
But the $300 Gladiators of Poker and its $3 million prize pool, which starts June 7, will be the king if the donkaments this summer. With starting chips at 30,000 — and double-reentries per flight — it’s going to be wild.
The $400 Colossus, which doesn’t have a guarantee, none-the-less will have an enormous field. The $1,000 mystery bounty was a favorite last year, and with a one bounty worth $1 million guaranteed, it will attract thousands of players. It starts tomorrow (May 31).
Online events
Online bracelet events on WSOP.com kick-off Thursday, June 1, for those in Nevada and New Jersey with a $333 event, the first of 20 bracelet events in this market.
Here’s a schedule:
Players in Pennsylvania and Michigan can play in seven bracelet events on Sundays, starting June 6. This is Pennsylvania’s schedule, but they are similar:
For more information, and to register for live events online through Bravo, see WSOP’s website.
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