They come from as close as your nearest poker room and as distant as Finland and the Far East. Each year, the world’s most ambitious and hungriest players make the pilgrimage to Las Vegas to participate in the World Series of Poker. This year’s event marks the 50th anniversary of the WSOP, which kicked off May 28. There were 123,865 entries at last year’s WSOP, setting an attendance record ripe for breaking during its golden anniversary.
The drama is endless as previous year’s winners try to repeat past successes and new hot shots come from out of nowhere to compete for coveted WSOP gold bracelets. Opening weekend event Big 50 No-Limit Hold’em, specially created for the 50th anniversary, promised $1 million to the top player of the $500 buy-in. The total prize pool exceeded $13 million.
This week’s options range from a $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller event to a half-dozen $1,500 buy-ins, so there’s something for everyone who knows when to hold ’em and knows when to fold ’em.
Rio, times and buy-ins vary through July 16, free to view. wsop.com/2019
