More WSOP Gold Bracelets Added to Already Record Year

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2021 was already shaping up to be the biggest ever, but it just got bigger with the addition of 11 more online Gold Bracelets over the course of the live series in Las Vegas this year.

Ten of the newly added online bracelets mirror the online games that ran alongside the live series in 2021, available in Nevada and New Jersey. The 11th is a first-ever bracelet in PA awarded during the live series.

The new games bring the bracelet total in 2021 to 189, by far the most awarded in a single year. Not counting WSOP Europe bracelets, the total is still an unprecedented 173.

And it might not stop there either. WSOP is committed to running a bracelet series in Michigan when the market opens. This could marry the Pennsylvania bracelet series that ran in August, about a month after the market came online for WSOP—which could take the total bracelets very close to 200.

The newly added events will run on Sundays, similar to the way the online component of the WSOP ran prior to the 2020 pandemic reset. Two of the Sundays during the series—the first Sunday, and another one in November—are double-bracelet days.

Technically, there is a 3rd double-bracelet day on November 21, when two Mini Main Events run online in two different markets. While most of the upcoming online series will take place for players in Nevada and New Jersey, November 21 will see the second Mini Main Event running on the recently opened WSOP PA.

The New Online Bracelets

The opening of a room in Michigan, and a series there, could put as many as eight or more new bracelets onto the schedule as well, bringing the total to nearly 200 for the whole year, between online and live. There are still a few more live bracelets being awarded in 2021 versus online, but for the first time in a year with a full live schedule, the ratio of online to live bracelets is nearly 50:50 this year.

The latest online bracelets will kick off on October 3 with the first double-bracelet day. Players in New Jersey and Nevada have the chance to win two bracelets, one each in either the $500 NL Hold’em BIG 500 or the $5,300 NL Hold’em Freezeout.

There is one bracelet game on WSOP.com (NJ/NV only) every Sunday for the rest of the live series, with a second double-bracelet day on November 14 when there is a $777 and $7,777 game to choose from. The final Sunday of the newly announced online series features two Mini Main Event games, with one playing out for the Nevada and New Jersey players.

The second game will take place on the newly opened WSOP PA, bringing the total number of bracelets awarded to players in Pennsylvania in 2021 to 9. While there were 8 bracelets awarded during the hastily arranged POBS in August, the WSOP PA Mini Main Event on November 21 will be the first time an online bracelet will be awarded during the live series outside the shared liquidity of NJ/NV.

WSOP 2021 Online Bracelet Events During Live Series

The Biggest WSOP Ever

From the moment it was announced, there was never any question WSOP 2021 would be the biggest series ever in terms of bracelets awarded. The early schedule had 66 bracelets scheduled online, plus another 88 to be awarded in live in Vegas.

That was already well above the previous record of 99 in 2019, and even above the planned booty of 101 bracelets in 2020 before the pandemic whittled that series down to 86, almost exclusively online. Then WSOP added the 15 scheduled bracelets at WSOP Europe at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic from November 19 to December 8, and the eight POBS bracelets discussed above.

With 11 more bracelets now added to the the schedule from October 3 to November 21 while the live Vegas series is ongoing, there are 189 set to be handed out this year, nearly twice the previous record of 2019. If the expected opening of a WSOP MI room happens before the end of the year, it seems likely there could be as many as 197 total bracelets, with an 8 or 9 bracelet events running on WSOP MI as well.

There are still lots of bracelets left to be handed out in this year’s WSOP, and lots of different ways to win one. While the main online series from GGPoker and WSOP.com are long finished now, there are still ways to win online for players in Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

In addition to online shots, there will be 15 more bracelets handed out on the live felt, at the WSOPE 2021 starting November 19, so no matter who you are or where you play, there’s never been a better chance to put a bracelet on your wrist than during WSOP 2021.

WSOP 2021 Schedule