2016 World Series of Poker Kicks Off Wednesday47th Annual Summer Series Underway With First Of 69 Events |
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Although most of the pros won’t show up until at least Thursday, the 2016 World Series of Poker officially kicked off Wednesday morning with the first of 69 events. The 47th annual summer series began at 11 a.m. with the Casino Employees event, a $565 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament.
In 2015, the WSOP hosted the biggest series of all time with a record-setting 103,512 entries from a whopping 111 different nations. A total of 11,638 players received at least one payout from an overall prize pool of more than $210 million. The $565 buy-in Colossus event alone accounted for 22,374 entries.
The excitement around the Rio was palpable even before play began as players lined up to buy-in to not only Wednesday’s event, but other events throughout the summer.
“This is my sixth year in a row playing,” said Stephane Dias, a 41-year-old kitchen worker from Montreal, Canada. “I play a lot of poker in Montreal, Niagara Falls and Atlantic City, but I get really excited when I come to Las Vegas.”
Some, just like the bargain price point.
“You can’t beat the cheap buy-in,” said Kevin Cunningham, a 45-year-old table games dealer from Bishop, California. “It’s only $500 for a shot at a bracelet.”
Others just want a shot at redemption.
“This is my third year,” said Tim Van Horst, a 46-year-old pit games supervisor at the M Resort. “The first two years I was within 10 spots of the money, so this is the year I finally get there.”
“I played Colossus last year and didn’t make it past day 1,” said Guillermo Bonilla, a 34-year-old firefighter from Chicago. “It was a fun experience though, and I wanted to take another shot at it. I only have three days off from work, so we’ll see what happens.”
But the veterans have nothing on the WSOP rookies, who are looking to make their mark on the Las Vegas poker scene for the first time.
“I’ve never played in a WSOP event before, because it’s kind of like the postman choosing to go for a walk,” said 61-year-old Detroit, Michigan poker dealer Becky Kaatz. “It’s the last thing he wants to do. But it’s been a dream of mine and everyone kept telling me I had to go for it.”
“This is my first time playing in a WSOP event,” said Tom Sipos, a 49-year-old from Vienna, Austria. “I’m planning to play in five or six events, but I honestly feel like I can’t lose. I think it will be a great experience no matter what happens.”
There have been a number of changes announced for this year’s series. Players can now wear headphones through the money bubble and up until the final table. Players can also register for events using special kiosks located around the Rio and in addition to more chips in the $10,000 buy-in events, many tournaments will also start an hour earlier so that the fields can reach the money on the first day of play.
For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2016 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.
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