2021 World Series Of Poker Schedule Finalized

After a long wait and numerous teases, the World Series of Poker schedule is finally here! Poker players from around the world have been waiting for months to make their plans for the upcoming series, and more than a year since the global pandemic saw the 2020 summer series moved online.

The WSOP will return to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, with 88 gold bracelets to be awarded from Sept. 30 – Nov. 23. The WSOP released the full schedule of events on Tuesday, June 15, revealing plenty of returning favorites along with several new and exciting tournaments.

“Make no mistake, the 2021 WSOP will be the real deal and we’re preparing for a full house. Throughout the storied history of the WSOP, this year will be particularly memorable and we’re preparing for a poker reunion all players can celebrate,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. “We’re beyond thrilled to offer a complete schedule of can’t-miss events, including all our flagships and the variety players deserve.”

The press release covering the schedule announcement highlighted nine ‘new and noteworthy’ aspects of the schedule:

• Oct. 1-3: $500 ‘The Reunion’ – $5 million GTD prize pool – An affordable buy-in and multi-million dollar guarantee headline this opening-weekend no-limit hold’em event with three starting flights.

• Oct. 8 – Nov. 19: Each Friday and Saturday of the series will play host to one of the returning flagship no-limit hold’em events that have proven massively popular at past WSOP series, including the Millionaire Maker, Monster Stack, Double Stack, Colossus, and The Closer.

• Oct. 5: The stakes get raised for the heads-up event – The WSOP has announced a buy-in increase to $25,000 with a cap of 64 players for this year’s running of the heads-up no-limit hold’em championship.

• Oct. 10: $1,000 ‘Flip and Go’ – An online game format will make its live debut at the WSOP. The tournament kicks off with each player being all-in on the first hand, having been dealt three cards with the option to choose which two to play. A flip will be played out with the whole table, resulting in just one player moving on to being in the money, with the tournament continuing to play out in a more traditional manner from there on out.

• Oct. 27–28: Seniors event changes – The seniors event this year will feature two starting days, and one optional re-entry per flight.

• Oct. 6, 13, 18, 21, 24: More ‘freezeout’ events on the schedule – The WSOP highlighted that, in 2021, “every popular buy-in level from $500 to $5,000 will offer a true freezeout.”

• Oct. 31: Poker Players Championship adds deuce-to-seven no-limit single draw back into the mix – This $50,000 buy-in mainstay of the series is expanding to a nine-game mix by bringing another big-bet game back into the fold.

• Nov. 17: Poker Hall of Fame Bounty Event – All living Poker Hall of Fame members are invited to freeroll into the $1,979 no-limit hold’em tournament, with the buy-in priced in honor of the Hall of Fame’s founding year. This event will be open to all players.
Each participating Hall of Famer will have a bounty corresponding to the year they were inducted into poker’s most exclusive club. The 2021 inductee will be announced during the event.

• Nov. 19: High Roller events – The WSOP will host its highest buy-in pot-limit Omaha event ever with a new $50,000 PLO high roller, which will be part of a suite of high-stakes tournaments taking place after the WSOP main event that will also include $50,000, $100,000, and $250,000 no-limit hold’em events.

“We could not be more excited to welcome everyone back to Las Vegas and the Rio,” said WSOP Vice President and Tournament Director, Jack Effel. “The entire WSOP team is hard at work to ensure players have the absolute best experience possible.”

The WSOP main event will have four starting flights to choose from between Nov. 4-7. The final table is currently slated for Tuesday, Nov.16 and Wednesday, Nov. 17.

The WSOP Europe is also set to return in 2021, with 15 bracelet events expected between Nov. 19 and Dec. 8 at the King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic.

In the meantime, there will be 66 WSOP  bracelets awarded on the virtual felt this year during the 2021 WSOP Online. Half of the events will run from July 1 – Aug. 1 on WSOP.com, which is accessible for those in Nevada and New Jersey. For those outside the U.S., the international segment of the WSOP Online will take place on GGPoker from Aug. 1 – Sept. 12.

The inaugural WSOP Online in 2020 attracted 283,983 entries, with more than $174.5 million in prize money paid across the domestic and international segments, and 85 bracelets awarded along the way. ♠