2013 World Series of Poker Soon to Take Center Stage

The 2013 World Series of Poker takes center stage in just a few days

We're only days away from the start of this summer's World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, with the first events kicking off Wednesday, May 29.  My intrepid colleague Matthew Pitt and I will be at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino this summer, and we're both anxious to find out along with everyone else what stories emerge from this year's WSOP.

Here's a rundown of a few items we're looking forward to in anticipation of the 44th running of poker's largest tournament series.

Tables cover the Rio, ESPN covers the WSOP

This year's WSOP features 62 bracelet events, with buy-ins ranging from $500 (for Event No. 1, the Casino Employees event) to $111,111 (for Event No. 47, the One Drop High Rollers NLHE event). A record 480 tables will be available to handle all of the action this summer, situated in the Amazon, Pavilion, and Brasilia ballrooms.

ESPN will once again provide extensive coverage of this year's WSOP, with broadcasts starting July 23 and continuing weekly through November.  After featuring the final table of the WSOP APAC Main Event and the WSOP National Championship final table (playing out today at Harrah's New Orleans), WSOP Main Event coverage will begin on August 6 and lead up to the almost-live presentation of the "November Nine" final table on November 4-5.

Additionally, live streaming of all of the final table bracelet events will be accessible via WSOP.com. Some of these streams will be presented on a five-minute delay and simply feature cameras pointed at final tables with the tournament director's announcements providing some guidance to the action.  

However many streamed final tables -- 35 of them, according to the current plan -- will feature hole cards and commentary with multiple camera angles, with the action presented on a half-hour delay. For the latter broadcasts, RFID technology will be employed in the playing cards to identify them via onscreen graphics.
 
2013 WSOP POY race heats up

The WSOP Player of the Year race will continue as usual, and in fact this year has already begun with the five events of the WSOP APAC counting toward the POY standings. 2004 WSOP POY winner Daniel Negreanu has the current lead this year thanks largely to his victory in the WSOP APAC Main Event. 

A total of 59 WSOP events in Las Vegas will count as well, with the non-open Casino Employees, Ladies, and Seniors events excluded. The seven WSOP Europe events happening this October at the Casino Barrire d'Enghien-les-Bains near Paris, France will also count toward the 2013 WSOP POY race.

Last year's WSOP Main Event champion Greg Merson managed to secure the WSOP Player of the Year title as well thanks to his having additionally won the $10,000 Six-Handed NLHE event earlier.

A million-dollar first prize and more One Drops to drop

The $1,500 buy-in "Millionaire Maker" no-limit hold'em re-entry event (Event No. 6) will earn a lot of notice during the first weekend of the Series. Featuring two flights on Day 1, players will be allowed to re-enter in the evening flight should they bust during the afternoon flight.  

The payout schedule will be structured so as to guarantee the event's winner a $1 million first prize, a relatively rare occurrence during WSOP preliminary events. For example, in 2012 only Merson's win in the $10K NLHE 6-max event, Michael Mizrachi's in the $50K Players Championship, and (of course) Antonio Esfandiari's $18 million-plus score in the Big One for One Drop netted first prizes of more than $1m.

The $111,111 One Drop High Rollers NLHE event (Event No. 47) will earn a lot of attention as well.  From each entry $3,333 will go to the One Drop charity while the other $107,777 will go into the prize pool. The WSOP has indicated a hope that more than 100 players will enter the event. Another charity-oriented event, the $1,111 "Little One for One Drop" NLHE event with re-entries (Event No. 58), will also produce some funds for One Drop ($111 per entry).

Other schedule highlights

Other notable events on the schedule include a $1,000 "Turbo" NLHE event (Event No. 34), the return of the $50K Poker Players Championship (Event No. 55), the Seniors NLHE Championship (Event No. 26), and the Ladies NLHE Championship (Event No. 51).

As in the past, the Seniors event features a $1,000 buy-in. Meanwhile, the buy-in for the Ladies event has technically been increased to $10,000, with a special "90% discount" given to women who play. In other words, women will continue to pay $1K to participate, while men wishing to crash the event will have to pay considerably more to do so.

Finally, as always the Main Event -- still $10,000 to play -- will again produce the stories everyone will be talking about for years to come, with the WSOP hopeful to exceed last year's turnout of 6,598 entrants. The Main Event begins Saturday, July 6 with three Day 1 flights and will play down to a final nine by Monday, July 15, with the final table (as mentioned) happening November 4-5.   

Non-bracelet tourney action

Along with the bracelet events, a concurrent series of tournaments called the Carnivale of Poker Super Stack Series will take place at the Rio as well with events playing out every Monday and Tuesday throughout the WSOP, then daily during the WSOP Main Event.
  
As Matthew reported earlier, events in the Carnivale of Poker series feature buy-ins ranging from $365 to a $1,675 "Main Event," with a $5K Open-Face Chinese event tossed in at the end as well. Most of the tournaments are two-day events and no-limit hold'em, although there are Omaha/8, H.O.R.S.E., and PLO events included as well.

Of the tournaments on the Carnivale of Poker schedule, 21 have been designated "medallion events" for which special medallions will be awarded to the winners and points will be tracked in a similar fashion to WSOP Circuit events and the WSOP itself. The top 10 point-getters in Carnivale of Poker medallion events will split an additional $100K prize pool.  

The popular "Deep Stack" no-limit hold'em tournaments will be ongoing throughout the WSOP, with daily tournaments at 3 p.m. ($235), 8 p.m. ($185), and 10 p.m. ($135). Multiple "Mega Satellites" into various events will also be taking place every day, with turbo-styled satellites (for just $75) on the schedule every morning and regular satellites (for $330 and $550) starting in the afternoons.

It should be another wild summer in Las Vegas full of intrigue and excitement. Check out what predictions Matthew has already made for what might happen.  

Join Betfair Poker Now.