The 2023 World Series of Poker schedule has been unfolding since it was announced at the beginning of the year. Held between May 30th and July 18th, the 2023 WSOP schedule is massive and consists of 95 live gold bracelet events, which will be distributed over 50 days.
The 54th version of WSOP boasts an extensive itinerary of events that covers almost every poker discipline available. This year’s WSOP was also designed to cater to the needs of poker players across all buy-in levels. From shot-takers to high rollers, to mixed games and Main Event, there is a little bit for everyone.
This year, WSOP has returned to Las Vegas for the 2nd consecutive year at the Paris Hotel and Horseshoe. The live poker tournaments will boast buy-ins ranging from the new Gladiators of Poker No-Limit Texas Hold ‘em event with a buy-in of $300, which kicked off on June 7 to the Super High Roller NL Hold ‘em event with a buy-in of $250,000 scheduled to start on June 16.
This year, WSOP also comes with a new addition, the “Ultra Stack” tournament. This poker tournament will be a $600 buy-in No-Limit Hold ’em event that is expected to unfold on July 11. This new addition, plus many others, mark vital additions designed to demonstrate WSOP’s commitment to supplying a huge range of options for professional poker players to take part and compete.
To accommodate the growing demand in the WSOP, this year’s festivities also include more tournament tables, bringing the final to more than 600. This means that attendees will have lots of space to enjoy. In addition to the tournament, poker players will also be given the chance to engage in live cash games, which will create even more opportunities for poker players to showcase their prowess and potentially win big.
Yet another exciting development that attendees have to look forward to this year is the Hall of Fame Poker Room. This newly opened space will serve as a tribute to some of the greatest legends of poker. The room will offer an immersive experience to those in attendance and will play a major role in celebrating the contributions of these poker greats to the history and heritage of the game.
Main Event news
The Main Event at the WSOP has always been the cornerstone of the tournament series. For this year’s WSOP, the organizers made some notable updates to the Main Event schedule in an effort to enhance the experience of both the audience and the participants. This year, the Main Event, also referred to as the WSOP $10,000 buy-in No Limit Hold ’em World Championship, will begin on July 3rd and will end on July 17th.
The Main Event will have 4 starting flights, which will give players lots of chances to enter the tournament and compete for the title. WSOP strategically scheduled the Main Event so that it could coincide with the July 4th festivities. Scheduling it close to the holidays will make the Main Event accessible to players, which should generate an even higher prize pool.
Plus, poker players that are unable to take part in the initial starting flights will also have another chance to join the field on one of the Day 2s, which is expected take place between July 7th and 8th. It is expected that this flexible schedule and system will ensure that poker players enjoy multiple opportunities to compete for the Main Event title, as well as the massive prize pool.
To ensure that participants have as many opportunities to compete in the Main Event as possible, WSOP has organized lots of small events. One such qualifying event is the “Main Event Mania,” which will offer extra routes to qualify for the 2023 WSOP World Championship. This year’s WSOP will also include the very first Global qualification weekend, which took place between May 20th and 21st.
During this weekend, qualifying events were held in live poker rooms across 5 continents, allowing even more players to qualify for the Main Event. Further, WSOP has also organized a special promotion dubbed the Main Event for Life promotion. If the Main Event surpasses the record-breaking field of 8,773 that was recorded in 2006, all the participants during the 2023 Main Event field will be entered into a draw on July 8th.
The winner of the “Main Event for Life” promotion will receive a Main Event Buy-in for the next 30 years, guaranteeing a lifetime of openings to compete in the prominent tournament. In addition to the 95 in-person bracelet events, which is an increase compared to last year, there will also be an extra 34 bracelets, which will be held online at WSOP.com.
With the online bracelets, the total number of bracelets during the 54th WSOP will be 129. With more tournaments, more qualifying opportunities and an emphasis on breaking the main event turnout, 2023’s version of events is expected to truly blow all other WSOPs out of the water.
Other changes that were made include the $1 million freeroll Tournament of Champions, which was moved to opening week and was limited to winners of circuit rings, as well as former WSOP online and WSOP Europe champions. Last year’s popular Million Dollar Bounty was also rebranded to the Mystery Millions.
This year, WSOP’s schedule is the most varied it has ever been. Those interested in big action for cheap will have access to 50 events all with a buy-in of $1500 or lower. New additions to the schedule also include the $300 Gladiators of Poker that comes complete with a $3 million guaranteed prize pool, the $1,500 short deck event, the stand-alone Badugi bracelet event, as well as the $1,500 Big O (five-card pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better) bracelet event.
Final Thoughts
The WSOP is back, making history yet again! Since the tournament’s humble beginnings in 1970 as a 7-player cash game, the WSOP is easily one of the most highly anticipated poker tournaments in the world. 2022’s summer series boasted a staggering $342 million in prize money across 102 bracelet events, with the 2022 Main Event attracting the second largest field in history, just shy of the record made in 2006. This year, WSOP is doing everything possible to beat 2006’s record. As such, there is a lot to look forward to.
