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The official World Series of Poker schedule was announced on February 11th 2014 and the rumors have been confirmed: The 2014 WSOP Main Event will have a $10,000,000 guaranteed first-place prize. In total the WSOP will host 65 events from May 27th until July 14th with the Main Event starting on July 5th.
At the beginning of this month iGaming.org got their hands on a leaked preview of the 45th WSOP and all those events were confirmed today in their press release.
With the rumors about the $10,000,000 guarantee a few weeks ago there was a lot of discussion about what the effect would be on the rest of the payout table. The WSOP was kind enough to provide us with their payout table with regards to likely participants scenarios. You can see this payout structure by clicking this link.
The WSOP also provided us with a comparison payout in case last year’s event had a $10,000,000 first-place guarantee. The main takeaways from this comparison are that none of the specific spots besides first place will be severely affected. There will be a drop off for the other payout level, but not significantly.
In an interview with WSOP.com Ty Stewart, WSOP Executive Director, said the following about the reason for having such a guaranteed first-place prize.
“It’s the 10th anniversary of WSOP at the Rio and we’re proud to highlight that fact. The unlocking of online poker funds is noteworthy. It will provide a fun rallying cry for WSOP.com online qualifiers to be able to turn $1 into $10,000,000. But, most of all, while we’ve been happy with the figures the past few years, it’s time to see the Main Event spike back up. We’re seeking to send a loud message that 2014 is the year to come or come back again to the signature event in poker.”
The WSOP will kick off this summer with a $25,000 Mixed Max No Limit Hold’em tournament on May 27th at 4:00 PM. This tournament will be played nine handed on Day 1, six handed on Day 2, four-handed on Day 3 and heads up on the final day.
The marquee WSOP events are always the $10,000 Championship events and the bigger buy ins. This year the WSOP offers 13 of these Championship events in the following disciplines.
While the $10,000 Championship events are the backbone of the WSOP there are some events in particular that stand out. For the second time ever the $1,000,000 One Drop event takes place this year and the highly prestigious $50,000 Players Championship is back.
Lot’s of changes have been made to the schedule to appeal to the broadest spectrum of poker enthusiasts and professionals. For the first time in WSOP history there will be $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha events and the highly popular Millionaire Maker is back on the schedule after drawing a record setting crowd of 6,343 in 2012. The winner of this $1,500 event will walk away with at least $1,000,000. On top of this there are some new events that will draw a lot of interest and here’s an overview of the new and other special events.
The Dealer’s Choice Six-Handed event is unique as it brings two new games to the WSOP that have never been dealt in a bracelet event. Badeucy and Badacy are generally popular in high stakes cash games and they will be featured in this new event that will without question generate a big buzz this summer.
WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart said the following about his expectations for the upcoming series.
“For ten years we have tried to raise the bar on tournament poker. There is real optimism 2014 can be our biggest year yet with an anticipated $200 million in prize money to be paid out this summer. With new satellites and daily tournaments exclusively on WSOP.com and a plethora of side events, there is more reason than ever to make the trip to poker mecca.”
Stewart also commented on the opportunities online poker players in Nevada and New Jersey have with regards to the upcoming WSOP.
“There will be general steps starting as low as one buck, single table satellites, and special guaranteed satellite events. Online satellites are already up and running and we are giving out Main Event seats in both Nevada and New Jersey on a weekly basis, not to mention having weekly satellites for the $1,500 events as well. The exciting thing is that someone with a modest bankroll can come out to Nevada or New Jersey and see if they can grind their way into the field. Obviously, there is some legend associated with the Main Event and doing just that.”
In total there will be 475 poker tables spread out across the Rio Convention Center in Las Vegas allowing for around the clock poker tournaments, cash games, satellites and Daily Deepstack events.
In all but one of the past ten years at the Rio Jack Effel was the tournament director and he said the following about the summer of 2014.
“We have tweaked our schedule and feel very good about the opportunities it presents poker players of all levels. Now in its tenth consecutive year at the Rio, we believe operationally we have optimized the experience to provide players maximum choice and comfort and can’t wait to open the doors May 27.”