WSOP Announces Extra Online Poker Events
World Series of Poker (WSOP) has announced 14 official gold bracelet events to be held between May 31 to July 12 for the 2020 season, up from nine events in 2019. These will include eight events to be held over eight consecutive days from June 28 to July 5.
The World Series of Poker have announced a number of new events for the 2020 season, including more online poker events and high-roller events: ©Javon Swaby/Pexels
The 2020 World Series of Poker will be held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and begins May 27 with the first live bracelet event, a $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout. The first online bracelet event, a $400 No-Limit Hold’em tournament is scheduled for May 31. Buy-ins for the events this year range from $400 to $10,000.
To participate in the events, players will need to participate within the borders of Nevada or New Jersey, though they will not need to be residents of either state. Registration for the competitions have now opened and can be completed through the WSOP website, and players can participate via desktop, mobile or tablet for all No-Limit Hold’em events
The expansion of the online poker schedule is proof of the growing popularity of online poker, as a number of states around the US have recently pushed for expanded legal gambling into the online sphere. According to WSOP.com’s Director of Online Poker Danielle Barille, the events are set to be a major element of this year’s schedule.
“We believe the 2020 offering of online gold bracelet events features our best schedule yet. This year we offer a consistent schedule of Sunday events every week of the WSOP, plus a special selection of eight events from June 28 to July 5 to coincide with the biggest week of the live WSOP when most players are in town to play.”– Danielle Barille, Director of Online Poker, WSOP.com
As explained in a press release, three events on the online schedule will utilize the single-elimination freezeout format. Ten other events will be single re-entry, while one event on the schedule, the $777 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha tournament on June 7 will utilize a three times re-entry format.
A record 187,298 entrants participated in the 2019 WSOP, which resulted in a 50-year high of $293,183,345 in prize money. The average WSOP gold bracelet event in 2019 had a $3,257,592 prize pool. While the online events have a higher minimum buy-in price, the live events will start as low as $75.
More Surprises in Store for the 2020 Schedule
The expanded online events options aren’t the only major draw for the 2020 WSOP. In January, the tour also announced that it would feature nine high-roller events in its schedule, with buy-ins ranging from $25,000 to $250,000. The first, with the lowest buy-in required, will be held on May 29.
Seven of the nine high-roller events are set to take place at eight-handed tables. The $50,000 Poker Players Championship will be played out at six-handed tables, while the heads-up championship will see just two players per table. The second event, a $25,000 buy-in heads-up no-limit hold’em championship, will be capped at 64 players.
The $250,000 buy-in super high roller no-limit hold’em game is one of the most anticipated events of the year. As the biggest buy-in on the schedule, it remains one of the larger buy-ins in the history of the WSOP, trailing only behind only the $1 million buy-in for the Big One For One Drop in 2012, 2014 and 2018.
“We have something for everyone on the 2020 World Series of Poker schedule and the high rollers are no exception,” said WSOP Vice President Jack Effel. “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.”
WSOP has surprised players and audiences with an extra 17 tournaments this year, with one of the most anticipated being a mystery bounty event. It is expected that the event will run like a normal No-Limit Texas Hold’em bounty freezeout tournament, with every player having a bounty on their heads.
However, 100 of the bounties will have bonuses worth much more, with one player offering a bounty of up to $250,000. In addition to this, three bounties will be worth $100,000 each, six bounties will be worth $25,000 each, 10 will be worth $10,000 each and 80 will be worth $2,500 each. This will guarantee a total of $1 million in mystery bounties to be collected.
