WSOP Schedule!

Always a fun time for those of us who like to play or watch a few tournaments here and there, the World Series of Poker schedule was recently released and I thought it would be fun to take a look at it from each of those perspectives. I’ll look at some events that will be fun to play in and some that will be fun to watch.

To Play

I’m so excited that the WSOP has brought back something that was long overdue, postlims. That’s what I call them at least, the events that start after the main event is already in progress. The last time they ran these events was 2006. After an 11-year layoff, they’re back and I’m honestly not sure why the idea went away in the first place. If you have lots of people who have taken off of work to play the main event for a week or so, room to put them up in your hotel, and room to house the tournament, why squander these things? Instead of having them cancel their booking at your casino and head home, why not offer a $1,000 buy-in tournament or two for their trouble. In fact, there are 13 events after the main this year, including some really interesting ones like a $1,500 pot-limit Omaha bounty event, and the one I’m most looking forward to, the $1,500 $1 million guarantee called The Closer with 30-minute levels. I mean, the postlims themselves would be a spectacular series anywhere else in the world and include some bangers for those that just like to watch as well.

I’m obviously also excited about the main event, but that goes without saying. Some other fun looking tournaments are the mixed Omaha eight-or-better tournament where you play pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better, limit Omaha eight-or-better, and Big O, the super turbo bounty, some good online tournaments, and whatever other games they are spreading that have lots of cards. I always feel so disappointed when they stop dealing to me after the second card.

To Sweat

Of course, the best event to play and to sweat each year is the same one, the main event. It’s been the marquee poker tournament since its inception and the winner immediately becomes a celebrity in the poker world. This past year, you also became famous if you finished fourth while wearing a spectacular jacket. They’ve done something a little bit different this year and are offering all of the starting days on weekdays. In the past, they’ve been a Friday through Sunday or Monday. This year, it’s Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from July 2-4. It’s an interesting strategy that I’m interested to see the results. Presumably the organizers are working on the assumption that many people will take that weird Wednesday off and turn it into a five-day weekend anyway, so just throw the main event in there to see how it sticks! I’m hoping it goes well.

In addition to sweating the main event, they’re frontloading and backloading the schedule with incredibly watchable events. The first open event on May 30 will be a one-day $10,000 buy-in super turbo bounty event with $3,000 bounties. I think it will get a fair amount of entries and will be fast and frenetic. Then, two days later, be prepared to sink your teeth into a $100,000 buy-in with a re-entry four-day tournament. Sort of won last year by Doug Polk, though it was the One Drop, this event always brings out the luminaries of the poker world along with some fun players that are interesting to watch.

After two weeks off, the noses start to bleed again when the now almost trivially small $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship kicks off on June 15. Playing eight games for five days is incredibly draining and a tough test of poker acumen.

Then we get to the real stuff. On July 13, another $50,000 buy-in, this time a no-limit hold’em high roller with a re-entry. This one will be fun to see those who are pumped up from a good summer and those who are trying to get the summer turned around in a hurry. The day that tournament ends, July 15, will be the return of the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop. A roughly $45 million prize pool will be up for grabs and the top spot will be worth north of $15 million to a lucky businessman or more likely, about $1.5 to $2 million for 7-10 poker players.

I’m excited to roll into Vegas for a few of these events and possibly fire up a livestream for the rest of them. I’m looking forward to another exciting World Series of Poker, I hope you do the same. ♠

Gavin Griffin was the first poker player to capture a World Series of Poker, European Poker Tour and World Poker Tour title and has amassed nearly $5 million in lifetime tournament winnings. Griffin is sponsored by HeroPoker.com. You can follow him on Twitter @NHGG