During his most recent win at the Australian Poker Open (APO), Stephen Chidwick had this to say about the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
“The World Series of Poker is too long of a grind. It’s easy to get burned out unless you take real breaks. This kind of series {APO} is perfect. I play really hard for ten days and then have more extended stretches before my next event.
Jack Effel and co., are making it easier for you, Stevie.
For the first time in WSOP history, the 51st annual series will have a unique High Roller Series running in parallel. Prophetic poker playing tweeters called it in the wake of the 2019 WSOP Player of the Year (PoY) fiasco, and the finer details are becoming blotted in e-ink.
The latest WSOP press release to fall underneath my hairy nostrils shows nine high roller events with buy-ins pitched between $25,000 and $250,000 – almost double the 2019 quotient.
The 51st annual WSOP runs May 26 through July 15, and the high rollers need to arrive right at the front-end of this thing with a $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) and a $25,000 NLHE Heads-Up scheduled for May 29 & 30. There is one more $25,000 event planned throughout the series. The $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) event takes place on Jun 17th.
Four events are carrying a $50,000 buy-in, two of them are NLHE, the third is the Poker Player’s Championship (PPC), and these are joined for the first time by a $50,000 PLO event on July 7.
Without companions are the $100,000 NLHE on Jul 11, and the most significant buy-in of the series, the $250,000 NLHE Super High Roller pencilled in for Jun 27.
All events are eight-handed, except the PPC and the Heads-Up. The latter also carries a 64-player cap.
Last Year
There was nothing precarious about last years high roller numbers at the WSOP.
Ben Heath kicked things off by conquering a 110-entrant field in a $50,000 NLHE event. The UK-pro earned $1,484,085 after beating Andrew Lichtenberger, heads-up, for the title.
The British Bulldog spirit also shone to the fore in the $25,000 PLO. Stephen Chidwick collected his first bracelet after beating 278-entrants, including James Chen, heads-up, to claim the $1,618,417 first prize.
Onto the $50,000 buy-in events, and Philip Hui defeated Josh Arieh, heads-up, to claim the $1,099,311 first prize in the PPC. Danny Tang vanquished 123-entrants, including Sam Soverel, heads-up, to win the $1,608,406 first prize in the NLHE format.
Finally, Keith Tilston topped a 99-entrant field, including Daniel Negreanu, heads-up, to win the $2,792,406 first prize in the $100,000 NLHE event.
Here is the high roller schedule in full.
The WSOP is keeping their powder dry on the leaderboard details, for now.
High Roller Series Schedule
May 29 – $25,000 NLHE
May 31 – $25,000 NLHE Heads-Up
Jun 5 – $50,000 NLHE
Jun 17 – $25,000 PLO
Jun 22 – $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship
Jun 27 – $250,000 NLHE
Jul 7 – $50,000 PLO
Jul 9 – $50,000 NLHE
Jul 11 – $100,000 NLHE
The remaining bits and pieces of the 51st annual WSOP schedule will be handed to the press in February, with the bulk of the events coming in the online format.