Details on this year's WSOP
OK, cards start flying Friday. Here's what the World Series of Poker has to say about this year's event:
The 2008 WSOP runs from May 30-July 14 and features 55 different bracelet events in almost every variation of poker at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
In addition to offering a record number of new championships in various poker disciplines and at a range of buy-in levels, the 2008 WSOP will include a historic format change to the $10,000 World Championship of No-Limit Texas Hold’em – commonly referred to as the Main Event – as well as a wide range of improvements for players and fans alike.
The innovations will be on display beginning Day One. The inaugural 2008 bracelet event is a $10,000 World Championship of Pot-Limit Hold’em, the first of its kind at the WSOP. The tournament also marks the first time since the WSOP went to a multi-event format that it has opened with a $10,000 buy-in championship.
In all, the 2008 WSOP will feature 55 bracelet events, including an all-time high of eight $10,000 World Championships and eight $5,000 championships. Tournament organizers also have included eight $1,500 championships in the schedule to create the most diverse mix of bracelet events ever offered.
Perhaps the most notable innovation at the 2008 World Series of Poker will be a format change for the Main Event. For the first time in the WSOP’s 39-year history, the Final Table of the Main Event will be televised in primetime on ESPN the very same day that the WSOP World Champion receives their bracelet.
Once the final nine players of the Main Event are set on July 14, action will be suspended for 117 days. These players – to be known as the “November Nine” – will have an opportunity during that time to secure sponsors and coaches, study their opponents’ play and devise new playing strategies before reconvening at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino on Nov. 9.
The Main Event winner will be determined in the early morning hours of Nov. 11 and, in a telecast first, ESPN will air its final table coverage that night beginning at 9 PM ET.
Last year's records include:
· Most total entrants for all events: 54,288
· Largest Prize Pool: $159,796,918
· Largest Ladies World Championship: 1,286 players
· Largest Seniors World Championship: 1,882 players
· Largest $50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E.: 148 players
· Largest preliminary event prize pool: $7.1 million for $50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E.
· Largest preliminary event top prize: $2.2 million for $50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E.
· Largest Field of Players (non-Main Event): 2,998 for $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em
· Oldest player to compete in a WSOP event: 94-year-old Jack Ury in Main Event
· Youngest player to win a WSOP gold bracelet in the United States: Steve Billirakis – 21 years, 11 days – in $5,000 World Championship Mixed Hold’em Limit/No Limit
