The 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP), the 54th edition of the venerable professional poker tournament is approaching fast much to the excitement of poker lovers. With poker enthusiasts eagerly awaiting the tournament, PokerGo recently unveiled its streaming schedule for this year’s edition further getting fans excited for the event.
For the second consecutive year, the WSOP will make a comeback to the Las Vegas Strip. Specifically, the tournament will be held at the Horseshoe and Paris Hotel and Casinos starting from May 30th and running through to July 18th. As the flagship broadcast outlet for the WSOP, PokerGO will live stream all the events on its platform.
The streaming schedule shared by PokerGo highlights an unparalleled 47 successive days of live poker action from the Paris Las Vegas and the Horseshoe Las Vegas. The President of PokerGO, Mori Eskandani, confirmed during the announcement that the 2023 livestream offering will be the largest that the network has provided yet, which is quite exciting for both fans and the professional poker pros involved.
Thanks to its continued commitment to understanding the needs and wants of the global poker audience, PokerGO is looking to set a new standard as far as delivering captivating poker content to viewers is concerned. Of all the tournaments to be broadcast over the 47 days, the $10,000 Championship Event remains the centerpiece of the PokerGO offerings.
However, it should be noted that PokerGo will also broadcast other smaller tournaments during the live stream schedule. Throughout the series, poker lovers can expect 30 one-of-a-kind bracelet tournaments, including prestigious events like the Ladies’ Championship, the $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship, the WSOP Tournament of Champions, as well as the $250,000 High Roller to keep them captivated.
PokerGO will also give its subscribers the chance to win an exclusive opportunity to participate in the 2023 PokerGO Tour Championship thanks to a $1 million freeroll event. During the $1 million freeroll event, the champion will have a chance to take home an impressive prize worth $500,000.
Saying goodbye to 2 WSOP traditions: Lammers and Single-Table Satellites
In addition to announcing the official PokerGo schedule, the rules for this year’s WSOP were also shared. During the announcement, the President of PokerGO, Mori Eskandani, also announced the end of a longstanding tradition in the WSOP schedule. According to the rules, 3 beloved features namely single-table satellites (STS) and WSOP Lammers will be discontinued moving forward.
For almost 4 decades, single-table satellites (STS) and WSOP lammers have been an important part of the tournament and the WSOP experience. As such, their discontinuation signals the end of an era. WSOP Lammers, a type of non-redeemable $500 chips, have played a substantial part in players’ admission to WSOP tournaments since 1982.
WSOP players typically rely on the Lammers for various purposes, such as paying off debts between players, gifting them to close family members and friends, or as a warranty for participating in the tournament. Although Lammers will no doubt be missed, the decision to eliminate them from the tournament proceedings is understandable.
The verdict to eradicate Lammers stems from apprehensions regarding their potential misuse and mismanagement as a form of currency. Over the last couple of years, WSOP has worked extremely hard to address issues related to money laundering while also demonstrating its pledge to maintain compliance in accordance with regulatory guidelines.
The WSOP’s verdict to evolve from physical Lammers is also expected to modernize the registration process. Instead of using physical chips, players will henceforth be directly entered into tournaments using their player cards. This shift is expected to not only simplify administrative procedures but also align with the gambling sector’s budding practices.
Single-table satellites will also no longer be part of WSOP moving forward. Popularly referred to as STS, these satellites were originally introduced in 1982 by the former WSOP Tournament Director Eric Drache. Single-table satellites were introduced to provide professional poker players a chance to enter the Championship Event with much lower buy-ins.
Single-table satellites with a winner-take-all arrangement, as well as a buy-in of $1,000 served as a great entry for poker players who couldn’t manage to pay the full $10,000 buy-in but possessed the necessary skills and experience needed to succeed in a single-table poker setting.
This change will no doubt impact poker players who relied on STS as a stepping stone to compete in bigger events. The elimination will likely affect the tournament in several ways. For instance, the removal of this pathway will potentially change the dynamics and skill levels of the participant pools as the field of players will only be comprised of people that can afford the full buy-in upfront.
As WSOP continues to draw closer and closer at the end of May, those interested in taking part have been encouraged to pay close attention to the rules. The official WSOP playbook contains all the information regarding the structure of the tournament, as well as the guidelines.
Registration for WSOP has been open for a while now with some of the world’s most popular professional poker players securing their spots and even more exploring available package deals for WSOP play. By immersing themselves in the rules, poker players can prepare their strategies adequately while gearing up for what is slated to be one of the most exciting WSOP years yet.
What is even more exciting is that this year, poker players participating in the WSOP will be treated to 20 bracelets instead of the usual 13. This means that there are even more opportunities to participate and win. Plus, for the first time, WSOP will merge its network with poker players from Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania which will create even bigger prize pools.
Conclusion
This year’s WSOP promised to be a thrilling and transformative event with the live stream covering ensuring that the action is broadcast throughout the 47 days of poker action. While the end of some of the longstanding traditions such as WSOP Lammers and single-table satellites is sad and has marked the end of an era, these changes are necessary as they reflect the WSOP’s commitment to adapting to industry trends while creating a compliant gambling environment.
