The 2015 WSOP is underway with the first of 68 events to be held over the next six weeks kicking off on Wednesday, but the tournament everyone has been looking forward to most – other than the Main Event – starts today.
The US$565 Colossus is a brand new event on the WSOP schedule this year and with its tiny buy-in and giant US$5 million guarantee will go down in the history books as the largest live poker tournament ever held. The current record of 8,773 players was set in the 2006 WSOP Main Event famously won by Jamie Gold, but the Colossus is certain to smash that figure with some predicting upwards of 20,000 taking part.
With four Day 1 flights scheduled, such a figure would test the skills of WSOP staff but whether the final number is 10,000, 15,000 or 20,000 the Colossus will be an event to remember.
While we’re at it, credit must go to the WSOP this year for creating such an intriguing event. After poker’s heyday of the mid to late 2000s when the likes of Gold, Joe Hachem and of course Chris Moneymaker created some of the game’s most memorable moments, it’s been difficult to retain the interest of the general public but there is no doubt the Colossus has people talking.
