Complete 2019 WSOP Schedule Now in Focus
The final “pod” of events has been revealed for the 2019 World Series of Poker, meaning we now have a complete schedule for this summer’s 50th anniversary poker festival. If I may be honest, I am somewhat amused by the gradual release of schedule chunks, rather than just having the entire schedule posted at once, but I guess it’s a way to keep the WSOP in the news and keep people interested while the fun is still four months away. It does make absorbing the information easier and the “pods” were organized well, so hey, it works. This last batch is for all the low-rolling WSOP hopefuls, as it revolves around the three-digit buy-in events.
Still Pricey for Me, But Cheap in Relative Terms
There have been six events with buy-ins of either $600 or $800 added to the schedule this year, all using a Deepstack format. These events are:
June 3 – $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack
June 10 – $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack
June 16 – $800 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack
June 18 – $600 8-Handed Mixed No-Limit Hold’em /Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack
June 23 – $800 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack
June 25 – $600 Deepstack Championship No-Limit Hold’em
The $600 events have 30,000 chip starting chip stacks and 30/40 minute levels, while the $800 events have 40,000 chip starting stacks and 40/60 minute levels.
Also added is a special $500 “Salute to Warriors” charity event, to be held on July 2 and end on, you guessed it, Independence Day. Proceeds from the tournament will go to the USO and “other veteran organizations.” Though it is a charity event, like the much higher priced Big One for One Drop, and the winner will receive a gold bracelet.
Of course, the highlight low-buy-in event is one that was already hyped by the WSOP: the Big 50 No-Limit Hold’em event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the World Series of Poker. Replacing the Colossus at the beginning of the schedule (though the Colossus still exists), the Big 50 will have a $500 buy-in and four starting flights. Players are permitted one re-entry per flight and the initial entry is rake-free. It is one of the few WSOP tournaments to offer a guaranteed prize pool – $5 million – as well as guaranteeing $1 million to the winner.
The WSOP is also bringing back the daily No-Limit Hold’em Deep Stack events. They will cost $200, $250, and $400 and will have unlimited re-entries through the registration period. These will be quick tournaments, with levels of just 30 minutes. Sundays will also feature a $250 Pot-Limit Omaha Deep Stack tournament and Wednesdays will have a $250 Seniors Deep Stack tournament.
None of these daily Deep Stack events will be for bracelets. Just money.
Way Out of My League
As mentioned, the entire 2019 World Series of Poker schedule is now set, though we are not going to post the entire thing here (it’s a formatting nightmare – just head to the WSOP’s website for details). The tournament that everyone cares about, the $10,000 Main Event, is slated to begin July 3rd and have three starting flights, as has been the usual for the last few years. The survivors from days 1A and 1B will all play on July 6th, though in separate fields. Those that make it through Day 1C will play on Day 2C on July 7th. It is Day 3 on July 8th that all remaining players will come together in a single, unified field.
After that, the Main Event will roll right through the final table (over a number of days, of course). Remember, there is no November Nine anymore; the Main Event will be settled this summer.
Including the Main Event, there are 20 events at the 2019 WSOP with buy-ins of $10,000 or more. One of the new ones is a $10,000 Short Deck No-Limit Hold’em Event, using a format that a lot of poker players now know as 6+ Hold’em. In this game, which recently made headlines with its addition to the cash game lobby at PokerStars, all cards valued two through five are no longer in the deck. With this shorter deck – hence the name of the tournament – probabilities of certain hands change, making a flush ranked higher than a full house and a straight ranked lower than a three of a kind.
And just as the low-buy-in Big 50 is meant to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the World Series of Poker, a new $50,000 buy-in event has been added to do the same thing on the high roller end of the spectrum. The four-day event is extremely deep-stacked, with players starting with 300,000 chips. Levels are only one hour each.
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