The World Series of Poker is returning to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for 2021, with 88 gold bracelets to be awarded from Sept. 30 – Nov. 23. The WSOP released the full schedule of events on Tuesday, June 15, with 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 DirectorTy 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 WSOP’s press release covering the schedule announcement highlighted nine ‘new and noteworthy’ aspects of the schedule:
- Oct. 1- : $500 ‘The Reunion’ – $5,000,000 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: Stakes raised for heads-up championship – The WSOP has announced an increase to a $25,000 and 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’ Presented by GG Poker – 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, and 24: More ‘freezout’ 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 top 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: Pot-limit Omaha high roller buy-in increased – The WSOP will host its highest buy-in pot-limit Omaha event ever in 2021 with a new $50,000 buy-in 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 buy-in 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.
Click here to check out the complete schedule.
