LAS VEGAS (Jan. 15, 2019) – While the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event is considered poker’s world championship, the WSOP is proud to have a decades-long legacy of continually spreading all the variants of poker during our annual tournament series. 

Since the series has taken place at the Rio, the WSOP has always offered high buy-in “championships” in all disciplines to help crown poker’s annual champion by game variant and cater to the serious player who plays a lot and is well-versed in both high stakes and the plethora of games spread. 

With this summer (May 28 - July 16, 2019) being our 50^th, we are pleased to announce a 20-event schedule of buy-ins priced $10,000 and higher for those looking to compete against the best at the biggest stakes in each format. 

Of course, as the WSOP evolves, so do the offerings, and the 2019 schedule is proud to offer it’s first-ever “Short Deck” No-Limit Hold’em event, priced at $10,000 and set for Sunday, June 2 at a special time of 6pm as a 4-day event.  Short Deck is a variant of No-Limit Hold’em where all the 2-5 cards are removed from the deck, leaving a 36-card deck comprised of sixes through Aces.   More details of how this event differs from standard Hold’em will be available on the event’s structure sheet. 

Another highlight of this year’s schedule is a $50,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament celebrating the 50^th annual WSOP.  The event will be structured as a four-day event, with players getting a whopping 300,000 chips to start and levels lasting one hour.  Starting Friday, May 31 at 3pm, registration will remain open until start of Day 2. 

Previously announced was the 50^th running of the WSOP Main Event, slated to take place July 3-16, 2019.  Once again there will be three different starting flights to choose from.  Wednesday, July 3 is Flight A; Thursday, July 4 is Flight B; and the final starting flight (Flight C) will be on Friday, July 5.  The Main Event will start every day at 12 noon except for Day 2 play, which begins at 11am.  Those that survive with chips in Flight A or B, will return to play Day 2AB together on Saturday, July 6 at 11am.  Those that survive with chips from Flight C, will have the Saturday off and return to play Day 2C on Sunday, July 7 at 11am.  All fields combine on Monday, July 8 to start Day 3 play, the day the event is expected to reach the money.  New wrinkles this year include an increased starting stack of 60,000 chips, the utilization of the Big Blind Ante format, and the ability for players to buy into the event as late as the start of play on Day 2 (either July 6 or July 7 at 11am).  The event remains a freeze out format, meaning players may only enter once. 

A list of all the $10,000 buy-in events confirmed for the 2019 World Series of Poker follows. The full event-by-event schedule is expected to be released sometime in the first quarter of 2019.  All announced dates, times and events are subject to change.

2019 WSOP Schedule of Events - $10,000 Buy-in & Higher

“We are proud to be the only tournament series offering such a wide variety of poker variants,” said WSOP Vice President Jack Effel.  “Players at this buy-in level should continue to expect terrific structures, with registration open until Day 2 in most cases and plenty of play to determine the champion in each discipline.” 

The Poker Player Championship, crowning poker’s best all-around player, returns on June 24 at 3pm, now with 300,000 in starting chips.  The $50,000 buy-in event always brings out the game’s best, while testing their skills in eight different variants. 

The majority of $10,000 and above events start at 3pm and will keep registration open until the start of Day 2 play, which is 2pm the day following the event’s start.  The Super Turbo Bounty (12 noon), Short Deck (6pm)  and Main Event (12 noon) are exceptions in start time, while Super Turbo Bounty closes registration at the start of Level 13 (approximately 4:40pm) on Day 1, due to the fact it plays down to final table on Day 1.  The Heads Up event requires participants to register by the start of play due to the event’s unique format. 

A record 123,865 entries participated in the 2018 WSOP, creating a 49-year high of $266,889,193 in prize money. The average WSOP gold bracelet event in 2018 had a $3,421,656 prize pool with $655,337 going to the winner.  

The 2018 WSOP featured huge field sizes once again in signature events, with the Main Event (7,874), Millionaire Maker (7,361), Monster Stack (6,260), Crazy Eights (8,598), Seniors Championship (5,918) and Colossus (13,070) combining to attract a staggering 49,081 entries. The majority of these signature events return in 2019, with the addition of a new opening weekend huge value event to help usher in the 50^th running of the WSOP – the Big 50. 

Buy-ins for tournaments at the Rio will start as low as $70.  Single table satellites and all your favorite live poker games: low, medium and high limit will begin on May 28 and run 24 hours a day throughout the seven-week series taking place in the spacious Rio Convention Center for the 15^th consecutive year.

Room reservations are being accepted across Caesars’ Las Vegas properties with rates as low as $33 for existing Caesars Rewards members.  Visit Las Vegas - WSOP to make your room reservations for the 2019 WSOP. 

Individual event online pre-registration won’t open until March/April, after all events have been determined and approved by regulators. 

About the World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker® is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world, having awarded more than $2.99 billion in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport’s top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest-running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970.  In 2018, the event attracted 123,865 entrants from 104 different countries to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and awarded more than $266 million in prize money. In addition, the WSOP has formed groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent of the World Series of Poker Europe in 2007 and the World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific in 2013 and the WSOP International Circuit Series in 2015. For more information on the World Series of Poker, please visit www.wsop.com.