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Poker Summer Camp is Ready with WSOP and Competing Series

Written by Jennifer Newell
Last updated on
Jennifer Newell

The World Series of Poker is the center of the poker universe. The main series that happens every summer in Las Vegas is the series that tops all others. Players do whatever they can to get to the WSOP from around the world. It is a rather big deal.

With that said, the WSOP may offer a wide array of events on its schedule, but many players want more options. Perhaps they want smaller fields, smaller buy-ins, more game variety, or fewer pros. No matter the reason, poker rooms in Las Vegas have discovered that variety is the spice of poker. Most major poker rooms offer their own series from sometime in May through sometime in July. They give players more options and attract even more poker people from around the world to what is now called poker summer camp.

For 2023 WSOP information, we have everything available:

Main WSOP page

Full WSOP schedule

WSOP Main Event details

WSOP satellites

Now, let’s check out what else is available around Vegas for poker players.

The Wynn Summer Classic: May 25 – July 19

Wynn Las Vegas has increased its presence in the poker tournament and cash game space in recent years. With top-notch customer service and a desire to change and grow with players, Wynn’s poker room has become a favorite of many in the poker community.

It appears that this Wynn summer series could be bigger than any in the past. summer series could be bigger than any in the past.

2022 Wynn Summer Classic = 32 events / $16.6M guaranteed

2023 Wynn Summer Classic = 48 events / $28M guaranteed

This year’s series begins on May 25 and runs through July 19, one day after the WSOP ends. There are several featured events on the schedule but none bigger than the EveryOne for One Drop, courtesy of the World Poker Tour and its new partnership with the One Drop Foundation. That is included in the highlights of the summer at Wynn here:

-June 4-9:  $1,100 buy-in NLHE w/4 flights ($1.5M GTD)

-June 12-16:  $1,600 buy-in NLHE w/3 flights ($2M GTD)

-June 19-23:  $2,200 buy-in NLHE Mystery Bounty w/4 flights ($2.5M GTD)

-June 25-27:  $1,600 buy-in NLHE w/ flights ($1M GTD)

-June 27-July 1:  $3,500 buy-in NLHE w/3 flights ($4M GTD)

-July 5-8:  $1,600 buy-in NLHE Mystery Bounty w/3 flights ($2M GTD)

-July 9-14:  $10,500 buy-in WPT EveryOne for One Drop NLHE w/3 flights ($10M GTD)

-July 14-16:  $111K buy-in WPT Alpha 8 for One Drop NLHE

Venetian DeepStack Championship Poker Series: May 22 – July 31

This is the longest running of the summer series, as usual. It starts before the WSOP and ends after the World Series concludes. It is popular with players, though the Venetian has lost some business to Wynn. That makes this year’s edition markedly smaller than in previous years.

2022 Venetian DeepStack = 133 events / $22M guaranteed

2023 Venetian DeepStack = 75 events / almost $14M guaranteed

The series remains on the schedule for many, as it does provide some good value. In addition, the Mid-States Poker Tour will include two big events at the beginning of the series in partnership with the Venetian, as usual, which always brings big numbers. The highlights of this summer’s action at Venetian are as follows:

-May 26-29:  $1,100 buy-in MSPT NLHE w/3 flights ($400K GTD)

-May 29-June 1:  $1,600 buy-in MSPT NLHE w/3 flights ($750K GTD)

-June 4-6:  $1,600 buy-in NLHE UltimateStack w/2 flights ($750K GTD)

-June 8-10:  $1,600 buy-in NLHE UltimateStack w/2 flights ($750K GTD)

-June 11-13:  $1,100 buy-in NLHE UltimateStack w/2 flights ($400K GTD)

-June 14-16:  $2,500 buy-in NLHE Ultimate Bounty w/2 flights ($1M GTD)

-June 19-21:  $1,100 buy-in NLHE Ultimate Bounty w/2 flights ($500K GTD)

-June 22-25:  $2,500 buy-in NLHE DeepStack Championship w/2 flights ($1M GTD)

-June 24-26:  $1,600 buy-in NLHE Seniors w/2 flights ($750K GTD)

-July 7-9:  $2,500 buy-in NLHE Mystery Bounty w/2 lights ($1M GTD)

-July 12-14:  $1,600 buy-in NLHE UltimateStack w/2 flights ($1M GTD)

-July 17-20:  $1,100 buy-in NLHE UltimateStack w/3 flights ($500K GTD)

Aria Poker Classic: May 31 – July 15

Despite Aria having one of the most popular poker rooms in Vegas, it wasn’t a big participant in summer camp until last year. That series lacked variety, though. Players competed there, but it wasn’t exactly a destination for the biggest guarantees or fields.

Th Aria Poker Classic is even hard to compare from one year to another, as there are no event numbers of totals provided on the series flyer or website. Per our quick count, though:

2022 Aria Poker Classic = 46 events / more than $3.5M guaranteed

2023 Aria Poker Classic = 43 events / more than $5.3M guaranteed

Aria appears to want to be more of a contender for Vegas poker summer tournament dollars. It helps that Aria is one of the closest rooms to Horseshoe and Paris, which share the WSOP hosting duties. Aria did up the stakes this year, with its schedule calling attention just one event with a bigger guarantee:

-Jun 9-11:  $3,500 buy-in BetMGM NLHE w/2 flights ($2M GTD)

MGM Grand Summer Poker Festival:  May 30 – July 11

Last year, the MGM Grand popped up to post a summer schedule at almost the last minute. It was a massive schedule of tournaments, one that appeared somewhat ambitious with nearly 200 tournaments. In the end, it was too ambitious and didn’t finish the series as planned.

Reality set in midway through 2022, but this year, the poker room management was ready. They had plenty of time to plan, look back at last year’s successes and failures, and plan an optimal schedule for this summer.

2022 MGM Grand Festival = 173 events / more than $10.6M guaranteed

2023 MGM Grand Festival = 58 events / nearly $4M guaranteed

An overall schedule doesn’t mean that the value isn’t there. There are quite a lot of buy-ins in the $300 to $500 range, and several events with big guarantees. These are the highlights of the series:

-May 30-June 1:  $400 buy-in NLHE Grand Kickoff w/4 flights ($200K GTD)

-June 8-11:  $500 buy-in NLHE GCP Golden Ticket w/5 flights ($250K GTD)

-June 15-18:  $500 buy-in NLHE Grand Super Stack w/5 flights ($300K GTD)

-June 22-25:  $500 buy-in NLHE Mystery Bounty w/5 flights ($300K GTD)

-June 29-July 2:  $600 buy-in PLO Mystery Bounty w/5 flights ($300K GTD)

-July 6-11:  $1,700 buy-in NLHE Grand Finale w/4 flights ($1M GTD)

Golden Nugget Grand Poker Series: May 30 – July 3

The Golden Nugget is the only poker room remaining on Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas, and it remains popular with low-stakes to mid-stakes poker players. The summer Grand Poker Series has been popular for years, not only because of its average buy-in of $200 but also its very wide range of poker variants on the schedule. Players can also avoid the Las Vegas Strip.

2022 Golden Nugget Grand = 81 events / more than $3M guaranteed

2023 Golden Nugget Grand = 89 events / more than $3M guaranteed

The Grand Poker Series also includes the Bar Poker Open Championship once again, which is an invitational, as bars around the United States participated in previous months to award seats to the event. All other events are open to the public, including the PokerNews Cup that will round out the series The entire schedules will feature these highlights:

-June 1-4:  $200 buy-in NLHE w/9 flights ($200K GTD)

-June 8-11:  $200 buy-in NLHE Ultimate Reentry w/9 flights ($200K GTD)

-June 16-19:  $300 buy-in NLHE Mystery Bounty w/9 flights ($250K GTD)

-June 23-26:  $600 buy-in NLHE Championship w/3 flights ($500K GTD)

-June 29-July 3:  $1,100 buy-in NLHE PokerNews Cup Mystery Bounty w/3 flights ($1M GTD)

Orleans Summer Open: May 29 – July 10

The Orleans is another poker room that has a big following and hosts a large Summer Open series each summer. It is also off the Las Vegas Strip but easily accessible by public transportation.

Last year, it didn’t overestimate attendance as much as MGM Grand did, but it did struggle to meet some guarantees. This year, the room’s new management appears to have it under control and won’t make the same mistakes.

2022 Orleans Summer Open = 79 events / more than $3.5M guaranteed

2023 Orleans Summer Open = 112 events / more than $2.7M guaranteed

There will be more single-day tournaments this year. Without too many multi-day events and tough-to-meet guarantees, this year is on a path for a smooth run and good time for poker players. Most of the buy-ins are in $200 range, so attendees can participate in the poker tournament action without breaking the bank(roll). There is one primary highlight of this series:

-June 22-26:  $300 buy-in NLHE Main Event w/8 flights ($250K GTD)

Women-Only Tournaments

Every summer, with few exceptions, there is a “Ladies Week” during the World Series of Poker. While it usually revolves around the WSOP Ladies Championship, there are tournaments around Las Vegas focused on women. In recent years, more poker rooms have joined in the action. Some even offer women-only events outside of the usual week dedicated to these events.

This year, the options for those choosing women-only tournaments, some independent and others affiliated with LIPS (Ladies International Poker Series) or PLON (Poker League of Nations) are:

-June 6 at Orleans:  $500 buy-in NLHE ($50K GTD)

-June 25 at MGM Grand:  $250 buy-in NLHE LIPS Kickoff ($20K GTD)

-June 26 at Resorts World:  $360 buy-in NLHE PLON Crystal Cup Championship ($35K GTD)

-June 28 at Venetian:  $500 buy-in NLHE LIPS ($30K GTD)

-June 28 at WSOP:  $150 buy-in NLHE WSOP Warm-Up

-June 29 at WSOP:  $1K buy-in NLHE WSOP Ladies Championship (4 days)

-June 30 at Golden Nugget:  $200 buy-in NLHE ($10K GTD)

-July 1 at South Point:  $360 buy-in NLHE LIPS National Championship (2 days) ($30K GTD)

-July 2 at South Points:  $200 buy-in NLHE LIPS Deepstack

-July 3 at Wynn:  $550 buy-in NLHE ($50K GTD)

-July 4 at Aria:  $500 buy-in NLHE ($50K GTD)

Dailies and Nightlies

As if there aren’t enough poker tournament options in Las Vegas this summer, several poker rooms offer a solid list of daily tournaments. Most schedules, like the MGM Grand and Orleans, for example, include nightly tournaments in their regular series lineups, but other poker rooms focus on their dailies as separate events.

The World Series of Poker is notorious for its dailies. They are not bracelet-awarding events but attract huge fields due to its presence alongside the WSOP and ease of entry. There are numerous options:

-Daily Deepstack NLHE (June 1 – July 17) at 1pm:  $250 buy-in

-Daily Deepstack NLHE (June 1 – July 17) at 4pm:  $400 buy-in, accelerated format

-Daily Deepstack NLHE (June 1 – July 17) at 8pm:  $200 buy-in, accelerated format

-Monday HORSE Deepstack (June 5 – July 10) at 3pm:  $250 buy-in

-Seniors Deepstack (May 31 & June 7, 14, 20, 28 & July 5, 12) at 9am:  $250 buy-in

The South Point’s poker room, at the very south end of the Las Vegas Strip will offer numerous dailies, each with guarantees and with some non-hold’em events mixed in:

-Monday-Friday Daily NLHE at 10am:  $60 buy-in ($4K GTD)

-Saturday-Sunday Daily NLHE at 10am:  $100 buy-in ($7,500 GTD)

-Nightly NLHE at 10pm:  $60 buy-in turbo ($1,500 GTD)

-Monday NLHE at 2pm:  $60 buy-in turbo ($1,500 GTD)

-Monday NLHE at 6pm:  $100 buy-in ($5K GTD)

-Tuesday Omaha 8-B at 2pm:  $100 buy-in ($4K GTD)

-Tuesday NLHE at 6pm:  $100 buy-in ($5K GTD)

-Wednesday NLHE at 2pm:  $60 buy-in turbo ($1,500 GTD)

-Wednesday NLHE at 6pm:  $150 deepstack ($15K GTD)

-Thursday Omaha 8B/Stud 8B at 2pm:  $150 buy-in ($5K GTD)

-Thursday NLHE at 6pm:  $100 buy-in ($5K GTD)

-Friday NLHE at 2pm:  $60 buy-in turbo ($1,500 GTD)

-Friday NLHE at 6pm:  $150 buy-in bounty ($10K GTD)

-Saturday-Sunday NLHE at 2pm:  $100 buy-in chip-chop survivor ($4K GTD)

-Saturday-Sunday NLHE at 6pm:  $150 buy-in deepstack ($15K GTD)

The poker room at Caesars Palace is also rebuilding its clientele and offering daily No Limit Hold’em tournaments throughout the summer. These all have guarantees, all allow rebuys and add-ons, and the schedule remains the same every day:

-Daily NLHE at 10am:  $100 buy-in ($1K GTD)

-Daily NLHE at 2pm:  $150 buy-in ($2K GTD)

-Daily NLHE at 6pm:  $100 buy-in ($1K GTD)

-Daily NLHE at 9pm:  $150 buy-in ($2K GTD)

Mixed Game Festival: July 2-6

This is a special event that is becoming a staple in the summer. Robbie Strazynski of Cardplayer Lifestyle organizes a days-long mixed game festival that offers low-limit cash games and a tournament.

The full schedule is not out for the 2023 Mixed Game Festival, but it will be at Resorts World, as in the past, and it will run July 2-6. More details will emerge in the coming days.

 

 

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