World Series of Poker Announces 2014 Dates
The 45th Annual World Series of Poker is only 159 days away.
On Thursday, the WSOP announced that the world's most popular poker festival will take place from May 27-July 14, 2014 at the Rio All-Suit Hotel and Casino. The Main Event begins on July 5 and will reach a final table on July 14.
A full schedule, with more than 60 bracelet events, is expected to be released in January.
"In our 45th year, and 10th at the Rio, we are hard at work to make the 2014 World Series of Poker the biggest and best yet," said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. "We will build it, we hope you will come."
WSOP.com, which is currently fully operational in New Jersey and Nevada, will be the exclusive online home for players in the United States to win seats into WSOP events, including the Main Event.
Three events have been confirmed — the Millionaire Maker will take place on Saturday, May 31, the Big One for ONE DROP on Sunday, June 29, and the Little One for ONE DROP on Thursday, July 3 and Friday, July 4.
In 2013, the $1,500 buy-in Millionaire Maker attracted 6,343 entries, generating a total prize pool of $8.5 million. Benny Chen took down the event, and pocketed a cool $1.2 million.
The historic, $1 million buy-in Big One for ONE DROP returns to the WSOP after a one-year hiatus. In 2012, Antonio Esfandiari topped a 48-player field to win over $18 million, and this year the field could feature up to eight more players, making the first-place prize more than $20 million.
The $1,111 buy-in Little One for ONE DROP will run right before the Main Event, and the two-day start, unlimited re-entry event featured 4,756 entries in 2013, generating a total prize pool of nearly $4.3 million. Brian Yoon won the event, earning $663,727 along with the gold bracelet.
In total, the 2013 WSOP hosted 79,471 participants — the largest in WSOP history — from 107 different countries, creating a total prize pool of more than $197 million. Ryan Riess won the 2013 WSOP Main Event, earning over $8.3 million.
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