2014 World Series Of Poker Main Event Begins Today

Card Player’s 2014 WSOP coverage is sponsored by CarbonPoker.

It’s finally here.

The largest, richest and most prestigious poker tournament of the year kicks off today, Saturday, July 5th. The 2014 World Series of Poker $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event gets underway with the first of three starting days beginning at noon local time today at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. And this year, for the first time ever, the main event features a guaranteed first-place prize of $10,000,000.

Last year 943 players turned out for the first starting flight, while day 1B drew 1,942 players and day 1C a whopping 3,467. Day 1C has typically the largest in terms of turnout amongst the starting days in recent years, with many players opting to give themselves a few days rest before getting down to business in this marathon of a tournament.

For the $10,000 buy-in players are given 30,000 in tournament chips. There are no re-entries, so each person’s tournament life is incredibly precious. Many players consider the day they bust from the main event to be the worst of the year.

Thanks to the slow, deep structure of the event, many poker pros also consider the summer WSOP main event to be best value tournament on the planet. Combine that with all the amateur players in the field, and the main event is where careers are made.

The structure does cause some problems for some poker players, since the tournament spans more than a week. Deep runs involve hours upon hours of grueling play, where one slip up could mean a place on the rail.

Here’s a look at the schedule:

Day 1A — Jul 05 — 12:00 PM
Day 1B — Jul 06 — 12:00 PM
Day 1C — Jul 07 — 12:00 PM
Day 2A — Jul 08 — 12:00 PM
Day 2B — Jul 08 — 12:00 PM
Day 2C — Jul 09 — 12:00 PM
Day 3 — Jul 10 — 12:00 PM
Day 4 — Jul 11 — 12:00 PM
Day 5 — Jul 12 — 12:00 PM
Day 6 — Jul 13 — 12:00 PM
Day 7 — Jul 14 — 12:00 PM

After the final table is set on July 14th the remaining players will once again have to wait for November to play out the tournament. For the past handful of years, the WSOP has paused the tournament to give the “November Nine” a multiple-month break while the weekly television coverage of the main event on ESPN catches up. Play will resume on Nov. 10th this year, with a champion finally being crowned on the 11th.

Last year, 23-year-old poker pro Ryan Riess topped a total field of 6,352 entrants to win his first gold bracelet and the $8,361,570 first-place prize. Who will be this year’s champion?

Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for updates from this year’s main event.

For more coverage from the 2014 summer series, visit our WSOP landing page.

If you can’t get down to the Rio, you can still compete with Carbon Poker. Click the banner below for more information. Card Player readers are eligible for an initial deposit bonus of 200 percent up to $5,000.

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