Summer Las Vegas Poker Series Provide WSOP Alternatives
The summer of poker – also known as poker summer camp – will start at the end of May in Las Vegas. The World Series of Poker announced its full summer schedule in mid-February, so the weeks and months that followed saw other poker rooms in Vegas to announce their competing schedules for the summer months.
Wynn and Venetian announced their lineups weeks ago, and MGM Grand just wrapped the announcement period with its schedule. There are now more series than anticipated, with Resorts World jumping into the fray this year.
- Wynn Summer Classic
- Venetian DeepStack Championship Poker Series
- Grand Poker Series
- Resorts World Summer Poker Series
- Aria Poker Classic
- Orleans Summer Open
- MGM Grand Poker Festival
Meanwhile, the WSOP also needed to add to its original announcement to add the Tournament of Champions information. The WSOP Online tournaments remain a mystery, though.
The following are the main points of each series and links to full schedules and further details, where available.
WSOP: May 28 – July 17
The 2024 World Series of Poker is set to start on May 28 and wrap on July 17. The 99-event schedule is available on the WSOP website, complete with tournament structures. For the third year, the WSOP will take place at Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas, the two Strip casinos joined by an interior hallway. Their ballrooms will offer nearly 700 tables of cash games, tournaments, and satellites throughout the summer.
There are numerous highlights throughout the series, not the least of which is the WSOP Main Event. That will run July 3-17 with four starting flights and livestreamed coverage from PokerGO.
Venetian DeepStack Championship: May 20 – July 31
The Venetian returns with its DeepStack Championships this summer, set to start a week before the WSOP and to wrap more than a week after the WSOP Main Event is complete.
- Dates: May 20 – July 31
- Tournaments: 79, excluding satellites
- Guaranteed: nearly $14M
There are highlighted events throughout the series, like the UltimateStack with $1.5M GTD, but the Mid-States Poker Tour events take the place of an actual “championship” or “main” event. The first MSPT will be a $1,100 buy-in with $500K GTD May 25-28, and the second will be a $1,600 buy-in with $750K GTD June 3-5.
The full schedule with links to structure sheets is accessible through this link.
Wynn Summer Classic: May 22 – July 18
One of the most anticipated series of the summer each year is at Wynn and Encore, known for its ultra-friendly atmosphere for players. The Wynn Summer Classic is set up to start about a week before the WSOP and end at about the same time.
- Dates: May 22 – July 18
- Tournaments: not numbered
- Guaranteed: $37M
The Wynn Summer Championship starts on June 28 and offers three starting days and a $10M guarantee. Other highlights include some events in partnership with the World Poker Tour – the WPT Trifecta – which is comprised of three $25K buy-in Alpha8 tournaments, and Wynn also hosts several tournaments with multi-million-dollar guarantees.
The full schedule, as well as links to structures, chip counts, and results, is on the Wynn’s poker room web page.
Golden Nugget Grand Poker Series: May 28 – July 1
The Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas is a unique series offering a mix of low buy-in events with many different poker variations., including HORSE, O-8, Big-O, and Mixed Triple Draw Lowball.
- Dates: May 28 – July 1
- Tournaments: 96
- Guaranteed: more than $3.5M
There are two major events throughout the series that offer multiple starting flights and $250K guarantees, but the highlights are the Championship with three starting flights and a $500K guarantee and the Goldenaire Mystery Bounty with three starting days and a $1M guarantee. The Bar Poker Open Championship serves as a big draw for the series as well, though it is an invitational event.
The poker room page of the Golden Nugget’s Las Vegas website provides a link to the schedule.
Resorts World Summer Poker Series: June 6 – July 24
Many poker players flock to Resorts World for its dailies every summer, so this year, Resorts World put them into a series lineup with guarantees.
- Dates: June 6 – July 24
- Tournaments: 82
- Guaranteed: more than $900K
The vast majority of buy-ins for this series are $200, though there are a few that increase up to $400. The largest of the series is what appears to serve as two “main events,” which each offer a $100K guarantee.
There is no information on the Resorts World Las Vegas website. The poker room links to Card Player and Poker Atlas for full scheduling details.
Orleans Summer Open: May 26 – July 14
As it does every summer, the Orleans offers a series away from other casinos. The Orleans Summer Open has a diverse schedule with different poker variants and many affordable buy-ins.
- Dates: May 26 – July 14
- Tournaments: not numbered
- Guaranteed: more than $3.5M
Part of the schedule, which does not have tournament numbers, includes daily super stacks and regular bankroll builders. Many tournaments are in the $200-$400 range. There are also quite a few non-Hold’em events, including championship events for 2-7 Triple Draw, O-8, 8-Game Mix, Triple Stud, and an O-8/Stud-8 Mix. The series Main Event is No Limit Hold’em with eight starting flights and $500K GTD.
The Orleans poker room website links to the structures, but the tournament link is yet to be fixed to reflect a link to the actual series schedule.
Aria Poker Classic: May 29 – July 13
The Aria poker room on the Las Vegas Strip has mixed up its schedule this year to reflect player input. There are quite a few Omaha choices to mix with Hold’em.
- Dates: May 29 – July 13
- Tournaments: not numbered
- Guaranteed: more than $12M
This series will be a big competitor this year, offering total guarantees on par with Venetian. Two of the early events are affiliated with BetMGM, which are the Mystery Bounty starting June 6 with $500K GTD and the BetMGM Poker Championship starting June 7 with two flights and $3M GTD. BetMGM also has a Mystery Bounty and Championship later in the series but with smaller guarantees.
The poker room’s website does not have any information about the series yet, so the Twitter/X account is the only place to find the schedule.
MGM Grand Summer Poker Festival: May 29 – July 8
This year, the MGM Grand poker room is partnering with the Moneymaker Poker Tour to bring in some special events. The majority of the series will be Hold’em, but there are some Omaha events in the mix.
- Dates: May 29 – July 8
- Tournaments: not numbered
- Guaranteed: nearly $3.7M
Every tournament does have a guarantee and will honor it, having learned a tough lesson by not honoring guarantees in past series. This year’s festival also hooked up with Chris Moneymaker, and those partnered events will run June 28 through July 6. There will be a seniors’ “Older than Moneymaker” tournament, mystery bounty, nightly deep stacks, PLO, and the Moneymaker Main Event with three starting flights and a $1M guarantee.
The MGM Grand’s poker room web page has no information on the series yet, so its Twitter page is the place to see the full schedule.
