Caesars Entertainment unveiled their 2014 World Series of Poker schedule on Tuesday and it was from the usual vanilla WSOP schedule we are used to seeing, with minor tweaks or an added tournament here or there. As WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart stated in the press release:
“There is real optimism 2014 can be our biggest year yet with an anticipated $200 million in prize money to be paid out this summer. With new satellites and daily tournaments exclusively on WSOP.com and a plethora of side events, there is more reason than ever to make the trip to poker mecca.”
The WSOP brass made a number of real changes to the 2014 WSOP schedule, which will feature 65 bracelet events this year.
A few of these changes were accidentally leaked last week when Caesars inadvertently posted a draft of the schedule for a few minutes before taking it down –but as we all know, once something is on the Internet, it stays there forever, and the poker community has drooled over the captured screenshots ever since.
Well, it turns out that the screenshot that has been circulating on the poker forums was in fact a draft of the schedule and the changes are real! Here’s a look at the now official changes to the 2014 World Series of Poker schedule, and some of the key events.
Most $5k tournament’s replaced by $10k Championship events
The $10k Championship events will be returning in 2014, with a total of 10 different $10,000 Championship tournaments on the schedule in poker variants ranging from Omaha 8 to No Limit 2-7 Lowball.
This was one of the biggest gripes last year, as the WSOP replaced almost all of the $10k events with $5k tournaments, but with attendance relatively unchanged, and many player complaints about the smaller prize-pools, the WSOP has righted the ship and brought the $10k events back.
The $50k Poker Players Championship and $25k Mix Max return
No surprises here, but definitely worth noting that the $50k Poker Players Championship (widely considered one of the toughest and most coveted titles in poker) as well as the $25k Mix Max Holdem event will once again be on the schedule.
The Mix Max is the first open-event on the schedule and should kick-off the 2014 WSOP with a bang, and a star-studded field.
Casino Employee, Seniors, and Ladies tournaments are back as well
Once again there are three restricted tournaments on the WSOP schedule:
- Event #1: The $500 Casino Employee Event
- Event #17: The $1,000 Seniors Championship (50+)
- Event # 53: The $10,000 Ladies Championship (women receive a 90% discount on the buy-in)
Direct links to Online Satellites
A very welcome sight on the WSOP schedule, and a portent of things to come, is the addition of direct links to WSOP.com online satellites.
With online poker now legal in both New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware the World Series of Poker is running a number of exclusive satellites to a wide range of tournaments and you can find these events right on the WSOP schedule.
The Big One for One Drop returns
After a one year hiatus the $1,000,000 Big One for One drop tournament is back at the Rio. The question will of course be: Can the 2014 One Drop exceed the incredible success of its predecessor?
The cap has been raised from 48 players to 54, so the prize-pool could actually be even bigger this time around, with the winner potentially pocketing $20 million. Needless to say, if it hits the cap this will be the most talked about tournament outside of the Main Event.
The Main Event
There is actually a little tweak to the Main Event this year as Caesars is guaranteeing the winner a $10,000,000 million payday.
The Main event will get underway on July 5th, with three starting flights available on the 5th, 6th, and 7th of July. The final table will be determined on July 14th, with the nine finalists then going on the yearly three-plus month sabbatical that is known as the November Nine.