Poker players and fans have been waiting for the announcement. Speculation had run rampant for many months – even years in some circles. The latest rumor had been that the WSOP would make the official announcement this week.
Lon McEachern, Norman Chad, and Jamie Kerstetter spilled the beans on the PokerGO livestream of the WSOP Main Event final table last night. And the World Series of Poker confirmed it today.
The 2022 WSOP will take place at Paris and Bally’s – connected casinos on the Las Vegas Strip – from May 31 to July 19, 2022.
And in other news, actor Vince Vaughn is now the official Master of Ceremonies for the World Series of Poker through 2022.
https://twitter.com/ParisVegas/status/1461003184047104009
Goodbye to Rio After 17 Years
The World Series of Poker actually first started in Reno in 1969 as a small affair among poker friends playing poker. The following year, Benny Binion took it to his Binion’s Horseshoe in Downtown Las Vegas. It stayed there for decades.
In 2004, Harrah’s Entertainment bought the Horseshoe and the World Series of Poker brand along with it. That prompted Harrah’s to move the WSOP to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, located just off the Las Vegas Strip, starting in 2005. The action took place in the Convention Center, which allowed for space to grow the series. Along the way, the WSOP did grow. And when Harrah’s became Caesars Entertainment, they kept the series at the Rio each summer.
https://twitter.com/TheRealTayHow/status/1460518833475645446?s=20
The Rio had its benefits. As mentioned, there was room for growth, and it handled the massive crowds during the poker boom but adapted as the crowds and events changed through the past decade and a half. It also had significant parking space outside of the Convention Center, perfect for offering free parking, specialized valet services some years, and avoiding non-poker crowds and valet services at the front of the casino.
However, there were downsides. Food options at the Rio were limited. For many years, the only other options within a short walking distance were at the neighboring Gold Coast. A longer distance provided access to the Palms Casino. It wasn’t until just a few years ago when developers constructed a drugstore and several fast-food options across the street.
In recent years, players also became concerned about their safety at the Rio. There were more attempted robberies and even hotel room break-ins.
As with any location, the Rio had its positives and negatives.
In late 2019, Caesars finally sold the Rio, something that had been rumored to happen for many years. Dreamscape Companies, owned by a real estate developer, bought the property but didn’t announce plans for it until early 2021, mostly due to the uncertainty created by the pandemic. In March of this year, Dreamscape announced that it partnered with Hyatt.
Since that sale, Caesars agreed to continue to manage the operations of the Rio until Dreamscape revealed its plan. Caesars will continue to do so, reportedly well into 2023. Technically, the WSOP could have stayed at the Rio for another year or two. However, they got ahead of the inevitable move and will now do it in 2022.
Movin’ to the Strip
As mentioned, rumors of the future location of the WSOP swirled for years. Knowing it was going to be a Caesars property in Las Vegas narrowed the options, but Caesars Palace seemed like the largest of them that could handle the crowds.
That was until July 15. A billiards organization called VNEA (Valley National 8-Ball League Association made a post on its Facebook page. For years, the billiards group came in to set up for its conference after the WSOP began removing its poker tables. Recently, VNEA moved to Bally’s on the Strip. But on July 15, VNEA posted that its long-term contract with Bally’s “was suddenly canceled by Bally’s as a result of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) moving from Rio to the Bally’s/Paris properties in 2022 and beyond.”
https://twitter.com/BallysVegas/status/1461002856203440131?s=20
PokerNews caught word of it. Chad Holloway and Jesse Fullen from PokerNews went over to do a walk-through of the two properties’ convention spaces, which is included in the article.
It looks like a significant walk between the respective convention centers of Bally’s and Paris.
Sources told me that the WSOP has been performing some simulations to work on the logistics. The hope is to hold final tables and televised action in one convention center and preliminary play in the other. However, sources did not tell me the results, nor the proposed location of cash games, satellites, and daily tournaments.
https://twitter.com/ChadAHolloway/status/1415838721283289089?s=20
Official Words and an MC
The WSOP made its official announcement via a press release today, November 17. They confirmed the location and that the series will take place from May 31 to July 19, 2022.
The WSOP said that it will release the full schedule and participating hotel discount rates in January 2022.
In this release, they also announced that they signed actor, comedian, and poker enthusiast Vince Vaughn as the 2022 WSOP’s “official celebrity Master of Ceremonies.” WSOP Senior VP Ty Stewart commented, “We are excited to have the iconic Vince Vaughn usher in a new era of WSOP at Bally’s and Paris next summer.”
Vaughn added, “I have such a strong connection to Las Vegas and am honored to be selected as the Master of Ceremonies for what is set to be the most anticipated World Series of Poker tournament ever. Poker has long been one of my favorite sports, so to be a part of something as historic as the WSOP finally moving to the Strip is an absolute dream. Vegas, baby, Vegas!”
https://twitter.com/CaesarsEnt/status/1461002143272509448?s=20
