To the great delight of poker players everywhere, Caesars has released the schedule for the 2016 World Series of Poker. Hosted once again at the Rio All-Suite Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, the tournament series begins on May 31 and will run through July 18. Eight new tournaments have been added to the schedule, and the number of paid places will be increased for a majority of tournaments.
On February 23, WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel made a statement addressing the payout structure changes:
“By paying 50% more entrants and reaching the money earlier, we anticipate the 2016 WSOP to be the most rewarding yet.
Our schedule this year really runs the gamut for all levels of poker enthusiasts, so we hope you will peruse the events and make your plans to join us this summer at the Rio.”
The goal of increasing the number of players who reach the money is to try and increase the percentage of poker tourists who return home having had a winning experience in an event. As more players get paid, the theory is that more players will return for future years.
Highlights of the 2016 WSOP
The entirety of the 2016 WSOP consists of 69 bracelet events and many smaller buy-in satellites. This year, the WSOP has added eight new tournaments which include a team event and an eight-handed no-limit hold’em tournament with a $888,888 guaranteed first place prize.
Here’s a rundown of what to expect from the eight new events:
- $1,000 Top Up Turbo No-Limit Hold’em – This tournament is a two-day event and has been added to wrap up the Colossus weekend. WSOP is calling it a hybrid poker tournament because players that cash in fifty-five dollar satellites before the event will be able to boost their starting stacks to up to 2x the regular starting stack.
- $565 Pot-Limit Omaha with re-entry – WSOP is advertising this tournament as having the lowest ever price point for a bracelet event in this poker variant.
- $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em – A different buy-in for a traditional game.
- $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball – This event will feature A-5, 2-7 and Badugi.
- $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha – An event featuring two of the most popular games in poker.
- $1,500 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha-8/Omaha-8/Big O – All three popular versions of Omaha 8-or-better played in one tournament.
- $888 Crazy Eights Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold’em – This tournament has a first place guarantee of $888,888, costs $888, and is being played 8-handed. Can you guess the sponsor?
- $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em – Team events are back at the WSOP. This event will allow players to enter a team of 2-4 people. Teams must register together.
The lowdown on WSOP 2016
On May 31 the action kicks off with registration for series events and daily satellites. The first actual tournament of the series, as is always the case, is the Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em Tournament on June 1.
WSOP has stated that it has addressed much of the player feedback it has received previously and has made some slight tweaks to this summer’s series. Key changes to this year’s series include changes to tournament structure, times of events, and the percentage of paid spots. One change from last year will again be part of the schedule – Event #66 which is a no-limit hold’em tournament hosted online at WSOP NV.
Here is the full schedule for WSOP 2016 (click for full size):
