2018 World Series of Poker Main Event Kicks Off

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The biggest poker tournament of the year is finally here. The 2018 World Series of Poker $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event kicks off with the first of three starting days beginning at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, July 2nd. The 49th annual running of this storied poker tournament will once again take place at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, and will run from Jul. 2-14.

The $10,000 main event first took place in 1972, and in the decades that have followed it has become the single biggest poker tournament of the year in terms of prestige and total prize money awarded. Many previous champions of this event have gone on to become legends of the game, like Johnny Moss, Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth. Of course, this event also played a key part in stoking the poker boom when Chris Moneymaker took home the championship bracelet in 2003.

Thousands of players will descend on the Rio again this year and they will find some new adjustments to the event they know and love. Card Player spoke to WSOP Vice President of Corporate Communications Seth Palansky in a video interview (see above) to learn more about what players and fans can expect from the 2018 WSOP main event.

“We are excited to get started. What is different this year is that dinner breaks are going to be sixty minutes, players are used to longer breaks in the past, so they should be aware of that. The meal break times are also going to be much different this year, so you should consult the structure so make sure you know when your meal break occurs,” said Palansky.

You can find that meal break schedule below:

These scheduling changes are a result of an increase in live broadcast coverage of the main event for 2018.

“There will be greatly expanded television and live streaming coverage of the main event. ESPN is committing over 60 hours to the main event, and we are live every day from Jul. 2-14. We are also live streaming on PokerGo surrounding the ESPN and ESPN2 coverage. We have never had this much exposure, and as a result we have adjusted the break schedules to make sure that we are live on TV with poker action during the key prime time hours.”

Another change this year is that the main event will not have any scheduled days off, outside of the built-in break players get during the day 1 and day 2 flights that they are not participating in. Once the field combines on day 3 of the event, action will continue without a full day off until a champion is decided.

“We are going to reach the final table of nine players on July 11. We will play a three-day final table, with the expectation being that we will play from nine to six on the first night, six to three the next night, and then down to a champion on the 14th. All of that will be televised on ESPN in primetime.”

Here is a look at the scheduled coverage of the event:

2018 WSOP Main Event Schedule:

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2018 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.

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