For professionals and poker fans around the world, the start of the WSOP in Vegas today marks the beginning of the greatest tournaments that the poker world has to offer.
The series kicks off with the $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship, an event designed for true masters of the game. With its sky-high buy in and Mixed Games format, only the best all-around players stand a chance. While it is a great event itself, the Poker Players’ Championship is only the start of the 57-event series, ending with the Main Event on July 3.
Winning this first event requires expert play in eight different games: Limit Hold’em, No Limit Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Low, Pot Limit Omaha, Seven Card Razz, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi-Low and 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball. However, the final table will only play No Limit Hold’em to make a more exciting game for TV audiences. The audience is important here because with such a high buy in, players want the prestige as well as the money, so the size of the audience directly effects the number of players in the field.
This event will be broadcast on ESPN on July 27th. With this and all the other big events in WSOP, the next few weeks are sure to be packed with awesome games and big action.