Just before Christmas in 2018, the World Series of Poker offered up its core dates and some information about the 2019 summer schedule. It seems there is a lot in store for the 50th anniversary of the WSOP, all of it scheduled to happen in Las Vegas between May 28 and July 16.
The kickoff of the summer series is set to be a celebration of the 50th anniversary, as the Big 50 tournament will offer NLHE action for a low $500 buy-in and guarantee $5 million for the prize pool. Initial entries will be rake-free, though reentries will pay rake. And the winner is promised at least $1 million.
And the Main Event will be on the other end of the series, complete with its $10K buy-in, three starting flights, and no reentries. It will begin on July 3 and play through to July 16.
For more details on these events, as well as the Millionaire Maker, Seniors Championship, and Crazy Eights tournaments, click on this link.
Today, the WSOP offered dates and details about 13 other major events on the schedule.
https://twitter.com/WSOP/status/1083071882172092416
Colossus Goes Lower
The Colossus will celebrate its fifth anniversary at this year’s WSOP, and it is almost certain that it will be the biggest yet. That is because the buy-in has been lowered from $500 to $400 in 2019, now the lowest buy-in for any bracelet event in the summer lineup.
When the Colossus was first offered in 2015, there were 22,374 entries and a resulting prize pool of $10.34 million. Attendance fell slightly in the years since, with the 2018 Colossus only counting 13,070 entries and a $6,535,000 prize pool. Even so, the winner was guaranteed $1 million, and that money went to Roberly Felicio of Brazil last year.
In 2019, WSOP executives decided to lower the buy-in and move the tournament from the beginning to middle of the series. Technically, it’s closer to the end with two starting days on June 26 and 27, and it will finish up on Saturday, June 29, the weekend before the Main Event begins. Players will receive 40K chips to play 40-minute levels, and they can enter the tournament once per flight.
From Employees to Closers
As happens each year, the WSOP will put casino industry employees at the head of the table, so to speak, as the Casino Employees tournament will be first on the schedule. The $500 buy-in event will begin the day before the Big 50, and players will have the opportunity to reenter once. Action gets underway on May 29.
https://twitter.com/WSOP/status/1083136041505050624
There will be two Super Turbo Bounty events this year, both with fast 20-minute levels, no reentries, and rapidly escalating blinds. Each event will start and end on the same day. The first will require a $1K buy-in on June 4 and put a $300 bounty on each player, and the second will be a $1,500 buy-in for June 24 with $500 bounties.
Another double offering will be the Double Stack events, one with a $1K buy-in starting June 9 and one with a $1,500 buy-in on July 11. The first will offer one reentry, but the latter will have no limits on the number of reentries.
Nearly two weeks into the series, players can gather for the Marathon on June 10, a $2,620 buy-in event with 100-minute levels and no reentries. Last year’s Marathon event was sprawled out over five days and attracted 1,637 players.
The WSOP already previously announced that its Seniors Championship would start on June 13 and offer a buy-in of $1K for all players aged 50 and over. The new announcement puts a Super Seniors event on the schedule just three days later for players 60 and over. The June 17 starter is also a $1K buy-in event and offers one reentry.
Following in the same kind of tradition, there will again be a Ladies Championship tournament starting on June 20, and it will also offer one reentry per player. As has become standard in the last few years, the buy-in will be listed as $10K, but women – or those truly identifying as women – receive a discount and can play for $1K.
The Tag Team has become a player favorite in the past couple of years, and it will run again this year, starting on June 24. Teams can be comprised of two, three, or four players, and the buy-in is $1K per team, no matter how many players. There will be no reentries.
Starting on July 1, there will be a Mini Main Event with a $1K buy-in, 60K in starting chips, and 30-minute levels. More details will likely emerge in the coming months.
The Little One for One Drop tournament returns and starts on July 6-8, all three of them serving as starting days for the $1K buy-in tournament with a $111 fee that goes to the One Drop charity. There will be unlimited reentries, which always makes for a wild ride.
And finally, the Closer will serve as the final – or close to it – event on the schedule. The $1,500 price comes with the chance to reenter as many times as one chooses, and players can take seats on any of the first three starting days of July 12-14.
https://twitter.com/SpaceyFCB/status/1083089034245754881
Comments