WSOP 2014 Kicks Off Today

On 27 May, the single most important poker festival of the year, the 45th World Series of Poker launches.

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They shuffle up and deal in two events: as usual, the $500 Casino Employees NLHE kick off the schedule, yet the other event is a novelty: the $25,000 Mixed Max NLHE. A total of 65 bracelet events are offered, three tournaments more than last year. The venue of the festival is the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, as usual. With daily satellites, complementary deep stack events and cash games, the non-stop action is guaranteed for about 50 days.

This year’s festival is one of major buy-in tournaments; in addition to the Main Event, 12 $10,000 events are on the schedule:

• 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (29-31 May)
• Omaha Hi-Lo Split-8 or Better (1-3 June)
• No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball (3-5 June)
• Seven Card Razz (6-8 June)
• H.O.R.S.E. (8-10 June)
• Pot Limit Hold’em (12-14 June)
• No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed (14-16 June)
• Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split-8 or Better (17-19 June)
• No-Limit Hold'em Heads Up (19-21 June)
• Limit Hold’em (26-28 June)
• Seven Card Stud (1-3 July)
• Pot Limit Omaha (3-5 July)

What is more, the largest buy-in poker tournament ever, the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop (29 June – 1 July) also makes a return. The player cap for the event is 56 and it is likely to be filled with the likes of Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Galfond, Philipp Gruissem, Phil Ivey, Jason Mercier, Sam Trickett and many more, all playing for what is bound to be the largest MTT first prize in the history of poker.

In 2012, Big One winner Antonio Esfandiari notably scooped in $18,346,673 and if all 56 seats are occupied, the winner takes home over $20 million this time.

The $10,000 Main Event starts on 5 July and the nine-handed finale, or the November Nine will be determined on 15 July. The Final Table takes place on 10-11 November.

PokerGuruBlog will constantly provide updates on the events with detailed accounts of the Final Tables and recaps on qualifier days, in addition to interesting action, people and activities happening during the World Series.