The 2017 World Series of Poker begins on Tuesday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada (a suburb of Las Vegas). This is the 13th straight year the WSOP has been held at the Rio, which is owned by Caesar’s Entertainment.
The event this year runs from May 30 until July 22. The November Nine is gone in 2017. Instead, the WSOP Main Event’s Final 9 begins two days after the final table’s members are determined, giving the players two days to rest and prepare, instead of three-and-one-half months.
World Series of Poker Fun Facts
The 2017 WSOP has a record number of bracelet events: 74 to be exact. That breaks last year’s record 69 bracelet events. The World Series of Poker bracelet is given to anyone who wins one of the events in the 8-week tournament — not just the WSOP Main Event, which is the next-to-last event of the series.
Casual fans might be confused at the number of events. The World Series of Poker is a collection of 74 tournaments — not including satellite events leading up to it — each with its own entry fee and set of rules. Having dozens of separate events allows tournaments for Texas Hold’em, Omaha Holdem, Seven-Card Stud, Razz, HORSE, and a host of other events. The wide number of events also allows various bet types and pot sizes, such as No-Limit Texas Hold’em and Pot-Limit Holdem events.
WSOP 2017 Schedule
The 2017 WSOP schedule includes 39 No-limit hold’em events, 3 limit hold ’em events, 11 Omaha events, 6 Seven-Card Stud and Razz (lowball stud) events, four 2-7 Draw Lowball events, and 11 mixed-game events (like HORSE). Virtually any poker player in the world is going to be able to enter a WSOP event for their favorite style of play.
Besides rules, the entry fees for the many events have a wide range. The WSOP Main Event has a $10,000 entry fee, but most events have a much smaller buy-in. Besides the Main Event, the entry fee has an inverse relationship with the size of the field. The higher the fee, the fewer entries.
2017 WSOP Entry Frees
The smallest entry fee ($333) is for Event #8, the WSOP.com Online event. The largest entry fee is for the Big One for One Drop (High Roller) event, which is $111,111. 41 of the 74 events have buy-in fees in the $333 to $1,500 range. Another 15 events have entry fees in the the $2,500 to $5,000 range. Yet another 15 events have $10,000 entry fees. Finally, three events have an entry fee over $25,000.
Little One for One Drop
The final event to begin this year is the The Little One for One Drop, a charity event with a $1,111 buy-in. The “One Drop” events are held annually to support Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte’s personal charity, which helps to bring water to water-deprived populated regions around the globe. Though the Little One for One Drop starts after the WSOP Main Event, it will end well before the Main Event ends.
Weekend Warrior Events
Amateur and low-roller players who want to enter a World Series of Poker event should read about the “Weekend Warrior” series. Each weekend of the tournament, the WSOP has scheduled one or more affordable events. Not only do these events allow for a smaller entry fee than most of the WSOP competitions, but they also allow multiple flights; if you bust out early on, you can pay a second fee to enter for a second shot at winning the tournament.
Players wanting to read more about these events should researcht the Colossus event on June 2 through June 4; the Millionaire Maker event on June 10th and 11th; and $1000 Seniors Event on June 16 through June 18, the Monster Stack event on June 24th and 25th; and the Crazy Eights event on July 1st and 2nd. Each provides a more affordable and convenient way to get in on the fun.
The Giant Event
Another novel option is “The Giant”, which takes place on Friday nights throughout the tournament. Each Friday night for 5 consecutive weeks, players can enter a flight for “The Giant”. The entry fee is $365 and the starting chip stack is $20,000. Players receive unlimited re-entries into the flights. If you make it through one of the flights over the first 5 weeks of play, you return on July 8 for the final phase of the Giant event.
Poker Players Championship
Those who consider themselves elite players (and high rollers) should consider the $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship, which begins on July 2. The $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship is a six-handed event in which players play 8 different variants of poker: no-limit hold ’em, limit hold ’em, Omaha hi-lo eight-or-better, pot-limit Omaha, seven card stud, razz, seven card stud hi-lo eight-or-better, and 2-7 Lowball triple draw.
Besides the WSOP Main Event, the Poker Players Championship is considered the most prestigious event to win by most professional players. It is considered the truest test of a player’s all-around poker skills, because of the high number of variants played. Also, because of the high entry fee, fewer amateurs play the event. This means the field is smaller and a less-skilled player is less likely to win (through sheer numbers) due to luck.
Players who want to fallow all the action should keep track of the WSOP Player of the Year points race. As events transpire, those who finish in the money receive points on the leaderboard. At the end of the 8-week tournament, the player with the most total points is declared the WSOP Player of the Year.
