2018 WSOP Schedule Released

The 2018 World Series of Poker will kick off on May 29^th, 2018 and run through July 17^th, 2018. This will mark the 49^th running of the WSOP, which is undoubtedly the largest and most popular poker series around the globe.

The “Mecca of Poker Tournaments” – also known as the World Series of Poker – will start play on May 29^th, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the world’s richest and most prestigious tournament series and it is expected to bring in more than $200,000,000 in prize money alone.

The 2018 WSOP will once again be held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino and feature 78 bracelet events, with buy-ins ranging from as little as $365 all way up to a staggering $111,000 for the prestigious One Drop WSOP event.

The announcement of the schedule by WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel comes after an initial leak of the schedule was released prematurely at a few iGaming websites a few days before WSOP.com could officially confirm it. Effel says that he and his staff feel very good about the multitude of offerings on the 2018 World Series of Poker schedule and look forward to welcoming everyone to the Rio in Las Vegas this summer.

Much of the WSOP coverage will be streamed live (with a 30-minute delay) on both ESPN and PokerGO. Last year, guest commentators such as poker pros Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu made appearances and were huge hits with viewers. I expect similar cameos from other notable pros during 2018’s broadcast of the WSOP.

The Main Event

The $10,000 buyin Main Event will start on Monday, July 2^nd and run through its final day on Saturday, July 14^th. There will be three starting flights that will go from July 2^nd through July 4^th. Technically, “Day 3” of the Main Event will begin on July 7^th, once all the remaining players from all initial flights are combined.

Main Event coverage will be streaming live on ESPN and PokerGO. It’s important to note that PokerGO is a subscription-based poker television provider, so if you’re looking to watch any WSOP event you must pay a flat $10 a month or wait for ESPN’s coverage online or via their standalone app.

Satellites for the Main Event usually run at many of the most popular online poker sites around the world for months leading up to the Main Event itself. Many of Las Vegas’s most popular casinos will start live satellites some time in February 2018 if you’re looking to qualify for a couple hundred bucks – sure beats ponying up the $10,000 all by yourself.

Last year’s winner Scott Blumstein will be back to defend his WSOPME title, where he claimed the platinum and diamond-studded bracelet and over $8 million in winnings after he defeated Daniel Ott heads up.

Much like the last several years at the Main Event, the remaining 9 players that make up the final table will each earn a minimum of $1,000,000.

New Events Added; Other Events Axed

There were quite a few new additions to the 2018 WSOP, including a $10K Super Turbo Bounty NLHE event, a $100K High Roller NLHE event and two budget-friendly events like the $365 PLO GIANT and the $565 WSOP.com [ONLINE-ONLY] Pot-Limit Omaha tournament.

In all, there were NINE new events added to the 78-tournament schedule, with FIVE events being removed from last year’s slate and replaced with a few of the aforementioned tournaments above. Events that were removed were as follows:

• $10K Tag Team Event (sorry Liv, no title defense for you!)
• $1,000 NLHE Event (only 2 of them)
• $1,500 NLHE Event (only 2 of them)

There’s usually no particular rhyme or reason why events get cancelled in favor of other ones, but next year’s WSOP seems to feature a lot more bounty-style tournaments, as well as a few more high rollers and some cool PLO MTT’s mixed in. I’m also a big fan of some of the “Double Stack” events and the tournaments featuring 30-minute levels as opposed to 60-minute levels.

In addition, the WSOP will also be running 6 more bracelet events AFTER the WSOP Main Event starts, which will include the following tournaments:

• $5K NLHE Event (w/ 30-minute levels)
• $10K 6-Handed NLHE Event
• $1,500 Bounty PLO Event
• $1,000 “Double Stack” NLHE Event (w/ 30-minute levels and 10k starting stack)
• $1,500 Mixed 8-Handed NLHE/PLO Event (LOVE THIS ONE)
• $50K High Roller NLHE Event (2 days)
• $1,500 “The Closer” NLHE Event (w/ 30-minute levels and 15k starting stack)

Ok, Can You Just Post The Full Schedule For Me?

The full schedule can be found here at WSOP.com.