The 50th Anniversary World Series of Poker is going to be a big summer series as the normal series of tournaments is gearing up to celebrate a significant milestone. Players get excited about the WSOP each year anyway, but the 2019 WSOP is going to bring more action and special events.
And this year’s events, the World Series executives have decided to tease bits of the schedule as they put it together so the excitement is felt in waves.
The initial announcement of front and end dates, Main Event dates, and a few special events came just before Christmas in December. A few weeks later, another 13 events were added to the schedule. And just last week, the details were released regarding nearly two dozen high buy-in events for the summer.
This week’s announcement is all about chips and big blind antes, while more events are also put into the schedule. It’s not complete yet, but the 2019 WSOP is getting there.
https://twitter.com/WSOP/status/1088545861871665152
Chips, Everyone, Chips!
All players at every level of the game like having more chips to start a tournament. Most tournaments have always offered a starting stack of chips commensurate with the buy-in, i.e. $1,500 buy-ins award 1,500 chips, but tournament organizers have lately been increasing the number of chips. Some of the events are called deepstacks or megastacks, but they always involve more starting chips.
This year, the WSOP is doing it for almost every event, even more than in the past. Last year, a $1,500 buy-in NLHE tournament gave players 7,500 chips, but this year, that same buy-in will allow a 25,000-chip starting stack.
While that can be recalculated for most NLHE events according to buy-ins, the same formula won’t apply to other poker variations. But to clarify, the WSOP posted this information for a range of buy-ins that will apply to bracelet events and mega satellites:
https://twitter.com/WSOP/status/1088478227029344256
Daily Deepstack tournaments, which are not bracelet events, will offer different starting stacks based on the buy-ins, and some bracelet events not listed above will as well.
The new trend in poker has become so popular that it’s taking over the WSOP. All NLHE tournaments this summer will use the big blind ante format, in which the player in the big blind pays the ante for everyone at the table. As the big blind rotates around the table, so does that responsibility.
https://twitter.com/WSOP/status/1088479525497794561
Big blind antes will be used in all Daily Deepstack events and mega satellites as well.
The use of this format encourages a faster pace in the games and helps avoid confusion between dealers and players with regard to tossing in an ante on every hand. Players were widely accepting of the format when used at the 2018 WSOP and 2018 WSOP Europe, as well as in other major tournament series around the world.
According to WSOP Vice President Jack Effel, “It is important the modern-day World Series of Poker continues to evolve. People certainly like bigger starting stacks, and we’re happy to oblige while simultaneously adding more value.
50th Anniversary Specials
Some events have already been announced to help the WSOP and its players celebrate the big 5-0. For example, the series will kick off with the Big 50 on opening weekend, the $500 buy-in event with a $5 million guarantee.
Another tournament is now on the schedule. The Bracelet Winners Only will be a NLHE tournament starting on Wednesday, July 10, and four days are designated for it. The $1,500 buy-in event will offer a 50K starting stack, as mentioned above. Registration is limited to players who have won a bracelet in any of the past 50 years, of which there are 1,078 names. Players who win a bracelet prior to July 10 of this summer can also enter.
https://twitter.com/Kevmath/status/1088214133626019840
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