The bright sparks behind the World Series of Poker have released the dates for the 50th Anniversary show and illuminate us with news of a $500 buy-in, rake-free, $5m GTD, $1m GTD for the winner opening event.
The fiddlers guide me gently from the slow to the fast lane. The tapping of the drumsticks on the metal frames mirror the beat, beat, beat of my ageing heart.
We experience many crashing crescendos throughout life.
The birth of our first child.
The vows, kneeling before a God you aren’t even sure exists.
Playing tag with infidelity.
The first time you walk through the Rio during the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
The anticipation turns you into a cannibal. Nobody is safe – no man, no woman, no deck, no chip, no chair. You want to freeze everyone, reducing them to mannequins, giving you a path right through to the golden bracelet.
Every life is a story.
Every story has a hero.
Every hero has a journey.
Every journey ends with the discovery of the treasure.
And the villain – the thorn that cuts you as you bend down to sniff the rose.
That will be you.
The 50th WSOP is Coming!
A poker player’s build-up to Christmas wouldn’t be the same without a teaser trailer from the World Series of Poker (WSOP). We don’t get a Triton Poker Series heart thumping two-minute video. We get an email. But something still shifts within.
May 28 – July 16.
The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas continues to be the venue of dreams, and this year the WSOP is pledging more than $200m in prize money.
The headline is The BIG 50, an opening event celebrating 50-years in the business, giving folks 50,000 chips for a rake-free investment of $500 that you can spend over 50-minute levels seeking out your chunk of a $5m GTD purse, and $1m GTD first prize.
I want to be there.
May 30 – June 2.
Quantum field, make it happen.
The $10,000 WSOP Main Event runs from July 3 – 16, so you can expect the WSOP to add more bracelets events after the big one to deal with the fallout. PokerGO and ESPN are once again responsible for capturing the emotional intensity of the game for those of us sitting at home picking our nose.
The schedule is still under wraps.
Here are the five tournaments we know of outside of the Big 50 and the WSOP Main Event.
June 7-8: $1,500 Millionaire Maker with $1m GTD to the winner.
June 13: $1,000 Seniors Event (50+)
June 14-15: $1,000 Double Stack NLHE
June 21-22: $1,500 Monster Stack
June 28-30: $888 Crazy Eight’s with $888,888 GTD to the winner.
The WSOP also plan to host a celebratory gala and awards ceremony on Saturday, June 29.
WSOP 2018: A Record Year
The 50th Anniversary follows hot on the high heels of the most successful WSOP to date. Last year, 123,865 entrants pawed at $266,889,193 in prize money, including the 7,874 players who turned up to compete in the Main Event won by John Cynn.
