The 45th annual World Series of Poker will kick off on May 28 at Paris Las Vegas with an all-new Champions Reunion Event, organizer Caesars Entertainment has announced.
The $5K No Limit Hold’em freezeout will be free-to-enter for all living former WSOP Main Event champions. Any regular player who knocks out an ex-world champ will win automatic entry to the main event.
Among the star-studded field will be reigning champion Daniel Weinman. He bested a record 10,043 field last year to take home $12.1 million, the largest Main Event first-prize payout in series history.
The Main Event
Organizers are hoping this year’s Main Event will be bigger still. The game’s most prestigious tournament will run from July 3 with four starting flights. Late registration will be available on July 7-8 through Level 7 or around 4:40 p.m. on Day 2 of each day.
As last year, the Main Event final table will return to the Horseshoe Las Vegas, the namesake of its spiritual home, Binion’s Horseshoe, on Fremont Street. The WSOP was conceived at Binion’s Horseshoe (now Binion’s Gambling Hall) by Benny Binion and his two sons, Jack and Ted, in 1970. The final was last held at Binion’s back in 2004.
This year’s final table will play out from July 16-17.
‘Bomb Pot’
Other notable events on this year’s calendar include a first-of-its kind Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/ Pot-Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot event on June 15, where juicy pots and crazy action will be guaranteed. The eight-handed, three-day event will have a $1,500 buy-in with a starting stack of 25,000.
In “bomb pot” events, every player at the table posts an ante to build the pot pre-flop. In a double-board format, the dealer deals two separate flops, turns, and rivers. Make the best hand on both boards to win the entire pot. If you win one board, but another player wins the other, you chop.
Meanwhile, lower stakes players can buy themselves an affordable piece of WSOP action via the PokerNews Deep Stack Championship. This $600 buy-in event will kick off on June 25.
And if you want to take an even cheaper route to WSOP glory, a host of online satellites will be available on GGPoker and WSOP.com with buy-ins starting from just $1.
“We’re proud to be Las Vegas’s original Main Event,” said Ty Stewart, SVP & Executive Director of the WSOP, in an official statement. “Records are made to be broken, so our motto this year is bigger and better.
“With our best schedule ever and more than 100 additional poker tables, we look forward to welcoming legends, first-timers, and everyone in between. If you’re a poker player, there is simply no experience on earth like the World Series of Poker,” Stewart added.
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