The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has revealed their plans to get live ‘in person’ poker back up and running in 2021.
A full schedule of events for the year ahead has been released, and that includes the return of the money-spinning World Series of Poker events as well as WSOP Online and WSOP Europe.
Badly hampered by the coronavirus pandemic, the brand has confirmed that – as things stand – the World Series of Poker will take place in the autumn at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
A three-month long programme of tournaments will get underway with an opening weekend that includes a charity event designed to raise funds for frontline health workers, plus a $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. and a celebration of live poker’s return in ‘The Reunion’, a $5 million guaranteed No-Limit Hold’em contest.
Further WSOP events will take place throughout September and October before culminating in the Main Event, a huge $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament that gets underway on November 4. Chip leaders will recommence for the final table on November 17.
While subject to change, the WSOP have confirmed they will be adhering to all of Nevada state’s Covid protocol as far as social distancing and venue capacities are concerned.
And with nearly $300 million in prize money available at the Main Event, it’s little wonder that more than 180,000 players descended on the Rio in 2019 – that will be a logistical nightmare for organisers this time around. The winner back then, Hossein Ensan, trousered the $10 million top prize.
And in the largest online poker event of all-time, Femi Fashakin outlasted a field of 28,371 entrants to win his WSOP gold bracelet and a cheque for more than $1.1 million.
A European Tour
The World Series of Poker has also announced the return of its flagship European and online events.
Starting immediately after the Main Event, WSOP Europe is scheduled to head to Rozvadov in the Czech Republic from November 19 for the continent’s major annual tournament.
The King’s Casino will once again be the host for the 15 gold bracelet events, which will be headlined by the €10,000 WSOP Europe Main Event and an eye-catching €50,000 buy-in High Roller tournament.
Of course, final confirmation of the WSOP Europe events will come later in the year given the changeable Covid situation in the Czech Republic and across the continent.
For those preferring to play from home, there is a stacked WSOP Online card to look forward to as well.
This will include gold bracelet tournaments and a total prize pool of $150 million across a slate of 31 pencilled-in events – in 2020, the WSOP entered the Guinness Book of Records for the largest online poker tournament in history.
The action will get underway on July 1 via the All-American Poker Network, with a $1,000 Championship event headlining the action – players can qualify from satellites costing as little as $1.
To keep up to date with all of the developments as they happen, the WSOP website will be a handy resource given how fluid the pandemic situation is around the globe.