The World Series of Poker in 2020 is going to be a big one, with more online events mooted than ever before, and the usual hoopla surrounding a Main Event that might become the biggest one in history for the 50th anniversary.
Nothing is bigger than playing a High Roller at the WSOP, however, and this year’s raft of eye-watering big-money events would cost a massive $625,000 in buy-ins if you want to enter them all. Each event of the following costs a massive $25,000 and up, with the most expensive event being the $250,000-entry Super High Roller event that takes place on the 27th June.
With this year’s series running for seven weeks from May 26 to July 15, the first High Roller event to take at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is the $25,000-entry no limit hold’em event which will take place from May 29th at 3:00 pm local time.
The $10,000-entry Heads-Up Championship that many feared was out from the schedule is in fact right back into it, but just costs $25,000 to enter instead of the previous single stack of high society. The attendance for the Heads-Up Championships in recent years haven’t been the highest. If the organisers are hoping that more players will turn up with more money on the line, then it is a bigger risk for an even better reward. Should the $25,000-entry version be successful – it has a 64-player ‘cap’ – then the future of the Heads-Up Championship will be assured. Flop harder than the $10,000-entry version and it could be curtains for the – in our opinion at least – classic WSOP event.
On June 5, any player who were unable to reach profit in the first two High Roller events will have a chance to play for double the stacks as the $50,000-entry event begins.
The first mixed game event at high stakes is the $25,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller event, which takes place in June 17th, and will surely feature some of the best in the business, such as George Wolff and Luke Schwartz.
It’s only five days after that tournament starts that the fabled tournament that all the high rollers seem to want to win takes place. Phil Hui won the $50,000-entry Poker Players Championship in 2019, and he’ll be going for another deep run from June 22 where players such as Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey will have no problem ponying up the five-figure buy-in. There are nine poker variants in this year’s event.
If the high rollers are waiting around in town for a final flourish, then they can expect to play three events between July 7th and 11th as the first-ever $50,000-entry PLO event takes place on July 7th, followed two days later by the same buy-in but a NHLE event. The $100,000 Super High Roller will take place on July 11th, and closes out the high rollers taking place in Las Vegas this summer.
WSOP Vice President Jack Effel said about the series of high roller events:
“We have something for everyone on the 2020 World Series of Poker schedule and the high rollers are no exception. The High Roller Series are great spectacles for the fans and a challenging series of events is sure to bring out the game’s best and those looking to take them on.”
With all high roller events looking likely to fill up, players will already be marking their calendars for the 8-Max events, apart from the 6-handed Poker Players Championship and Heads-Up Championship. Last year saw most high roller events well attended, and the prize-money overall was the highest it has ever been. This year’s overall prize-pool across what could be near 100 events is expected to top $300,000,000.
While it won’t all be on the line in the high roller events, many reputations will be carved in the headline-grabbing big money tournaments. We can’t wait for the action to begin.
Official World Series of Poker 2020 High Roller Events:
| Start Date | Time | Event | Entry | Stack | Blinds |
| 29th May | 3pm | High Roller NLHE 8-Max | $25,000 | 150,000 | 60 minutes |
| 31st May | 6pm | Heads-Up NLHE* | $25,000 | 150,000 | 20 minutes |
| 5th June | 1pm | High Roller NLHE8-Handed | $50,000 | 300,000 | 60 minutes |
| 17th June | 3pm | High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max | $25,000 | 150,000 | 60 minutes |
| 22nd June | 3pm | Poker Players Championship 6-Max* | $50,000 | 300,000 | 100 minutes |
| 27th June | 12noon | Super High Roller NLHE 8-Max | $250,000 | 1,500,000 | 60 minutes |
| 7th July | 3pm | High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max | $50,000 | 300,000 | 40 minutes |
| 9th July | 6pm | High Roller NLHE 8-Max | $50,000 | 300,000 | 40 minutes |
| 11th July | 3pm | High Roller NLHE 8-Max | $100,000 | 600,000 | 40 minutes |
*both these events are freezeouts, while others have a single re-entry format.
