WSOP announces schedule for 1st year on Strip; no vaccine needed

The World Series of Poker has announced its full schedule of 88 events for its first year on the Strip, and there will be no vaccine requirement.

The WSOP Main Event, the $10,000 No-limit Hold’em World Championship, will be held July 3 to 16 at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.

The WSOP previously announced that it was moving to the Strip for the 53rd edition of the tournament series, which will be held May 31 to July 20. The WSOP had been at the Rio since 2005 after moving from its original home at Binion’s.

Bally’s is in the process of being rebranded as the Horseshoe Las Vegas, a name previously tied to Binion’s.

The shared convention space of Bally’s and Paris creates the largest capacity ever for the WSOP, with more than 200,000 square feet and 600 poker tables.

The WSOP is moving back to its traditional summer dates after being held in the fall last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

That WSOP was played with a vaccine requirement, but the WSOP said Wednesday there will be no mandate this year and players will not have to wear masks, in accordance with current health guidelines.

“We’re ready to welcome players from all over the world to our housewarming party at Bally’s, soon-to-be Horseshoe, and Paris,” WSOP executive director Ty Stewart said in a statement. “The schedule is jam-packed with first-class events, and we expect this to be the biggest and most anticipated WSOP yet.”

The WSOP schedule again attempts to offer something for all types and skill levels of poker players. Buy-ins range from $400 to $250,000. While No-limit Hold’em is the most popular game, tournaments are offered in everything from Seven-card Stud to 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball to Dealer’s Choice, in which players choose from a list of 20 poker variants.

Koray Aldemir, a Germany native who lives in Austria, won last year’s WSOP Main Event, defeating a field of 6,650 players to earn $8 million.

Highlights from the schedule include:

— The Housewarming (June 2 to 7), a $500 No-limit Hold’em event with a $5 million guaranteed prize pool, set for the first weekend of the series.

— Super High Roller No-limit Hold’em (June 23 to 25), the biggest buy-in event of the series at $250,000.

— Million Dollar Bounty (July 2 to 6), a $1,000 No-limit Hold’em event, in which players will draw for a random prize for every player they eliminate, starting on Day 2 of the tournament. One bounty will be worth $1 million.

— Tournament of Champions (July 18 to 20), a free No-limit Hold’em event with a $1 million prize pool limited to players who win bracelets at this year’s WSOP or on the WSOP Circuit season. (The WSOP awards trophy bracelets for tournament victories.)

Actor Vince Vaughn will serve as the WSOP’s master of ceremonies this year.

The WSOP again will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network, with at least 15 hours of Main Event coverage. Daily event coverage will be streamed throughout the series on the subscription video service PokerGO.

The WSOP also said the WSOP Europe will be held again at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic, from Oct. 12 to Nov. 3.

Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.