The schedule for this year’s World Series of Poker in Las Vegas was released last week and there were some notable changes – most good, some bad.
The 68 bracelets on offer in 2015 is three more than last year and the most ever offered in a single summer at the WSOP, which from our point of view has well and truly reached the point where the value of bracelets is starting to be seriously eroded.
But the good news is that starting stacks for the small buy-in events have been significantly increased with US$1,000 events now offering a starting stack of 5,000 (up from 3,000) and US$1,500 events a starting stack of 7,500 (up from 4,500) – give players significantly more play for their cash.
The WSOP has also added some innovative new tournaments as usual, including the first ever online bracelet to be awarded at WSOP.com, with the final two players to play for the title live on July 3. However the tournament that caught our eye was the Colossus. Featuring a tiny US$565 buy-in but a whopping US$5 million guarantee, the expectation is that this event will set a new record for the biggest field ever seen in a live tournament – beating the 8,772 who contested the 2006 WSOP Main Event.
We’ll be watching closely.
