The premier event in the poker universe is under way in Las Vegas this week at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino.
The 45th annual World Series of Poker will feature 65 bracelet events culminating in the $10,000 No Limit Hold ’Em World Championship, which runs 5th-14th July and offers a $10 million guaranteed first prize in celebration of the WSOP’s 10th year at Caesars Entertainment’s Rio.
“This is our Olympics. This is our Woodstock. This is our celebration,” tournament director Jack Effel told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
US cable TV sports giant ESPN will cover the event. Most of the final tables also will be streamed with up to 30-minute delays on WSOP.com.
This year’s Series also also is allowing laptops at the tables for the first time for simultaneous live and online play.
More than 79,000 players from 107 countries participated last year, and more are expected this year. The 2013 WSOP saw a record nine players earn seven-figure wins, excluding the Main Event. That mark is likely to fall this summer with tournament officials forecasting a total prize pool of more than $200 million.
The Main Event’s final nine will return in November to battle it out for the $10 million. Last year’s winner, Ryan Riess, bested 6,351 players to take home $8.36 million and his first gold bracelet. His win was second only to Jamie Gold’s record $12 million in 2006 at the height of the global Internet poker craze.
The WSOP has awarded nearly $2 billion since its inception in the early ’70s at the famed Binion’s Horseshoe in Downtown Las Vegas. Most of that by far, about $1.6 billion, has been won since Caesars purchased the event and moved it to the Rio in 2005.
