2015 WSOP Key Dates Announced
The grown-ups were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of gold bracelets danced in their heads.
When you lay your head on the pillow tonight, dream not of Santa Claus and his reindeer, dream not of that new set of golf clubs. Dream, instead, of finally making that trip to Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker, for the initial schedule for the 2015 WSOP has been released! It’s a Christmas miracle!
The current schedule is far from complete; specific dates for most events have not been published. But the outline is there, starting, most importantly with Wednesday, May 27th, as that is the day the whole rumpus starts at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. As usual, the crown jewel of the World Series of Poker is the $10,000 Main Event
The 2014 WSOP November Nine
Championship, which will begin Sunday, July 5th, with the first of three starting days. It will run for another seven days after the starting flights, suspending play at some point on July 14th (or the early morning of July 15th) when the final table is determined. The remaining players will comprise the “November Nine” and return in… well… November, to determine the next Main Event champion. Like this year, the WSOP is guaranteeing a $10 million prize pool for the tournament.
That’s still $10,000, though, so unless you REALLY save up, have a great home game, or don’t live in the United States and therefore have the ability to satellite into the tournament, the Main Event is still out of reach for most of us. The World Series of Poker aims to change that this year. A new event has been introduced, called “The Colossus.” With starting dates of May 29th and May 30th, the event guarantees a staggering $5 million prize pool for the relatively low buy-in of just $565. The beginning of the tournament is interesting, too; each starting day will have two separate starting flights. Players may re-enter any flight they have not already entered if they bust out on one of the first days.
WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart said of The Colossus, “Load up the entire gang – the home game, the spouse, whomever you know that enjoys the game. The Colossus is going to feature a historic prize pool at this buy-in level and it can only happen at the World Series of Poker.”
Other key dates were also announced. The Millionaire Maker is back with morning starting flights on Friday, June 5th and Saturday, June 6th. The buy-in is $1,500 and at least $1 million is guaranteed to the winner. The WSOP has increased the starting stacks by two-thirds, giving players 7,500 chips, or 150 big blinds, to begin the tournament. Last year’s event was the biggest Millionaire Maker to date, with 7,977 players and over $1.3 million to the winner, Jonathan Dimmig.
A week later, a similar tournament will kickoff: the Monster Stack. There is no guaranteed prize pool or first prize, but for $1,500, players will get 15,000 chips to start. It was almost as big as the Millionaire Maker last year, as the prize pool was $10.6 million.
The Seniors Championship and Ladies Championship are back, on Friday, June 19th, and Thursday, June 25th. The Ladies Championship includes one of my favorite features of the World Series of Poker, a $10,000 buy-in with a 90 percent discount for women. That twist was implemented in 2013 to prevent men from acting like privileged assholes and entering the Ladies event either as a joke (which is insulting) or in a look-at-me-I’m-taking-a-fake-stand-for-gender-equality way (which is also insulting). Sure, men can still choose to be the object of scorn, but they will have to pay for it.
The Big One for One Drop is taking its every-odd-year-off, but the One Drop charity will still benefit from a couple events. The One Drop High Roller takes place on Sunday, June 28th and will cost $111,111 to enter. A small buy-in by Big One standards, but a bank account drainer by normal human standards. For those who prefer the quaintness of a four-figure buy-in, there is the Little One for One Drop (sounds cute, doesn’t it?) two days later. This tourney will be configured slightly differently than in past years. This go-round, the buy-in will be $1,000, but players can donate another $111 to One Drop at the beginning of the event (an “add-on” in the proper poker parlance) to receive a double chip stack.
The entire 2015 World Series of Poker schedule is still being crafted and will be released at a later date, as if that wasn’t obvious considering it hasn’t been released yet. Of course it will be released at a later date. The dates for the November Nine haven’t been announced, either, but if history is a guide, there’s a good chance that it will span the second Monday and Tuesday of November. If I am correct, all five of you who read this should send me five dollars.
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