Dates for the 44th World Series of Poker have been announced. It will be a 49 day extravaganza running from May 29 to July 16, 2013. There are expected to be approximately 60 bracelet events, with a similar schedule to the 2012 series which attracted 74,766 entrants from 101 different countries.
The event will continue at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and will end when the $10k Main Event is down to the final nine players.
Weekend events will be predominately No Limit Hold’em to encourage large fields and satellites will run with buy-ins as low as $75.
Special events for seniors, women, casino employees and charity will fill out the program. This year’s One Drop charity event propelled Antonio Esfandiari to the top of the all-time tournament money list when he won $18.5m beating a 48 player field each of whom had paid $1,111,111 to enter.
Event organiser Guy Laliberté has announced that the One Drop will be repeated in 2014. For 2013 the WSOP will include a “Little One for One Drop” charity event. The field should be considerably larger as the buy-in for the “Little Drop” is just $1,111 with unlimited rebuys for the first two days.
The 2012 WSOP awarded a total of $222m in prize money. ESPN2 covered the final table action in a marathon broadcast much helped by the 15 minute delay which allowed them to show player’s hole cards at the conclusion of each hand. The eventual winner, 24 year old Greg Merson, took home $8.5m, his second bracelet of 2012 and the Player of the Year award.