The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is getting closer to two watershed moments. One hundred live bracelets — and total buy-ins in excess of $1 million.
Both marks are within reach for the biggest poker festival in the world, but it hasn’t put up those numbers just yet. For the 2024 edition of the series, look for 99 live bracelets with buy-ins totaling just under $1 million — $971,856 to be precise.
“Records are made to be broken,” WSOP SVP and Executive Director Ty Stewart said last week when the full schedule for this year’s series was released. “Our motto this year is bigger and better.”
As it stands now, the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) figures to be both of those things. This year’s series will run from May 28 to July 17 and will be held at the Horseshoe and Paris casinos in Las Vegas.
If you’re in the UK, Canada, South America, or most of Europe, this is the place to get in on WSOP action from the comfort of your own home.
- Online satellites to the Main Event and other bracelet events will run throughout 2024.
- Official online bracelet series on GGPoker for international players expected later in the year.
- Sign up today to claim a $600 sign-up bonus and take advantage of every WSOP 2024 offer and promotion as soon as they run.
If you’re in Ontario, this is the place to get in on WSOP action from the comfort of your own home.
- Online satellites to the Main Event and other bracelet events will run throughout 2024.
- Official WSOP Ontario online bracelet series expected later in the year.
- Sign up today so you’re ready to take advantage of every WSOP 2024 offer and promotion as soon as they run.
If you’re in Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey or Nevada, this is the place to get in on WSOP action from the comfort of your own home.
- Online satellites to the Main Event and other bracelet events will run throughout 2024.
- Official online bracelet series across WSOP’s US network expected later in the year.
- Sign up today to claim a $1000 sign-up bonus and take advantage of every WSOP 2024 offer and promotion as soon as they run.
High Total Entries — But Lower Average Buy-In
As per calculations done by Poker Industry PRO, that $971,856 figure — which accounts for a single entry in all 99 events, but no optional re-entries — is a small increase on 2023’s figure ($948,555), up around 2.5%. Its a shade under the record $981,767 total set in 2022.
But it’s a big jump from just five years ago. Back in 2019, participating in every event meant paying “just” over half a million dollars. The increase has been driven by two factors — an expanded schedule and new high-stakes events. One recent example of this came in 2021, when organizers added a $250,000 Super High Roller NLHE to the series.
The figure of total buy-ins is a fun metric, and it 's a useful one to represent the growth in buy-ins at the series. But there’s some important caveats if you’re actually thinking of spending a cool $1 million to enter every tournament. Firstly, it’s not going to be optimal actually playing every event — there’s just too much overlap. Also, some events are not open to the public, like the three Seniors events. We also don’t know the online bracelets yet — that’s going to swell this figure quite a bit.
So for most players, it’s a bit meaningless: most hope to play just one or two events, often through WSOP online qualifiers. Only professional grinders will enter more than a handful, and only a select few high stakes pros — those vying for Player of the Year (a leaderboard that we expect to change this year) — will enter many of them. Negreanu, for example, has earmarked around half. For them, total buy-ins certainly matter.
| Year | Buy-in Range | Average Buy-in | Total Buy-ins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $400 – $100,000 | $6,599 | $534,519 |
| 2021 | $400 – $250,000 | $10,258 | $902,678 |
| 2022 | $400 – $250,000 | $11,156 | $981,767 |
| 2023 | $300 – $250,000 | $10,091 | $948,556 |
| 2024 | $300 – $250,000 | $9,817 | $971,856 |
Note: The pandemic forced cancellation of the entire 2020 series.
That’s not to suggest that it’s becoming more expensive to play in the iconic series. Not at all — it’s actually become cheaper for players to enter an event in the series, on average.
Consider that the average buy-in for WSOP 2024 is $9,817, the lowest in five years. This year’s average cost for entry was down from $10,091 in 2023. The average buy-in for the series peaked at $11,156 in 2022.
The previous low average buy-in was during WSOP 2019, when it averaged $6,599. The series was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic.
Of the 99 events for the 2024 edition of the series, 28 have buy-ins of $10,000 or more. The traditional $1,500 buy-in is the most popular on the schedule, with 24 tournaments at that price in 2024 (although there’s 28 or more in the $10,000 or more category).
This year’s series will also feature 14 events with buy-ins ranging from $300 to $999; 12 events with a buy-in of $1,000; and 21 events with buy-ins of between $1,979 and $5,000.
WSOP 2024 Buy-in Breakdown
| Buy-in Range | No. of Tournaments |
|---|---|
| $300 to $999 | 14 |
| $1,000 | 12 |
| $1,500 | 24 |
| $1,979 to $5,000 | 21 |
| $10,000 or more | 28 |
Many New Events This Year
Organizers have added nearly a dozen new events for WSOP 2024, including a three-day Seniors Championship ($5,000 buy-in, 50,000 starting stack) for players aged 50 and older that starts on June 26.
Event #41, a Mixed NLH/Pro Double Board Bomb Pot ($1,500 buy-in, 25,000 starting stack), begins on June 15 and runs for three days. As we reported previously, this will be the first time that a bracelet event will involve two different boards and the use of Bomb Pots.
The 2024 series will also kick off with a new Champions Reunion NLH Freezeout ($5,000 buy-in). Players who knock out a former Main Event champion will win automatic entry to the 2024 WSOP Main Event as a bounty.
Other new events include:
- Independence Day Celebration NLH (Event #80) — a three-day event with flights on July 3 and 4 (both flights $800 buy-in, 40,000 starting stack)
- Mid-Stakes Championship NLH (Event #89) — a four-day event that starts on July 1 ($3,000 buy-in, 40,000 starting stack)
Series organizers said marquee weekend events like Colossus, Millionaire Maker, and the Monster Stack will have three starting flights running from Fridays through Sundays, up from two. Meanwhile, Daily Deep Stack tournaments will run from May 28 to July 16, ($200 to $400 buy-in), and the new Daily Landmark Mega Satellites are scheduled between May 28 and July 15 ($35 to $25,000 buy-in).
The 99 tournaments scheduled for 2024 include 35 freezeouts and 64 re-entries. Of the latter, players are allowed one rebuy at 41 tourneys, while another 19 allow two re-entries and four have unlimited re-entry.
WSOP Schedule 2023 vs 2024
| 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Live Bracelets | 95 | 99 |
| Buy-in Range | $300 to $250,000 | $300 to $250,000 |
| Average Buy-in | $10,091 | $9,817 |
| $10k Buy-in Events | 16 | 17 |
| Championship Tournaments | 18 | 21 |
| Freezeouts | 34 | 35 |
| Mystery Bounty Tournaments | 2 | 3 |
| Bounty Tournaments | 6 | 6 |
| Turbo Tournaments | 4 | 4 |
Expectations are that the 2024 version of WSOP will draw more players than last year, which saw more than 215,000 entrants and more than $400 million in prize money awarded, a record for the 54-year-old series.
WSOP 2024 kicks off on May 28 and concludes on July 17. The $10,000 Main Event starts on July 3 and runs for four days. Last year’s Main Event featured more than 10,000 players and had a prize pool of $93 million — both records.
