The World Series of Poker has always been a strong indicator of the state of the poker industry. This will also apply for this year’s event which will kick off on May 29 and will feature 78 events. Unfortunately, this year’s “Main Event” which usually crowns the world champion of for the year, has been buried deep in the schedule this time around. The 2018 World Series of Poker will end with a $1 million buy-in event, continuing the trend of huge buy-in tournaments that have always had a pretty huge impact on the all-time poker tournament winning list.
Here are some of the highlights:
Super Turbo Bounty: This event will be held on May 30 and will carry a $10,000 buy-in. Despite the large buy-in, there is still an opportunity to score some cash throughout the tournament while at the same time avoiding the bust. All you will have to do is to send an opponent to the rail and get an instant $3,000 payout from the prize pool. A cheaper bounty will be made available on June 25 with a $1,500 buy-in and will pay $500 for each opponent a player busts.
Daily deepstacks: These daily $250 buy-in tournaments will begin at 1 p.m. If you are looking for good gameplay value then this tournament’s 30-minute blinds structures beginning at $25/$50 will be a great choice – you will realize that multiple shots in this are a way better value than the risk of a single shot on a $1,000 tournament. Players will start with 20,000 chips.
The Colossus: this $565 buy-in tournament begins on June 2 and will play out in three flights with players being allowed to re-enter later flights in case they bust out of the earlier ones. However, the most exciting thing about this particular tournament is that it allocates a whopping $1 million to the winner making it one the highest paying investments at the WSOP.
The Monster Stack: This $1,500 buy-in event kicks off on June 23 with each player having 15,000 chips – this is equivalent to 300 big blinds which give the players a lot of time to bring their best to the game.
Ladies event: Usually, this is a $10,000 buy-in event but on June 28, it will be discounted to $1,000 just for the ladies. In essence, this was an effort to fix the age-old problem of male pre-dominance at the World Series of Poker and so far, it is meeting the expectations.
The Marathon: This is more of a standout event that will mostly appeal to the fans of conservative rock-like playing style. The $2,520 buy-in tournament begins on June 11 and will feature 100-minute levels.
Senior Events: There will be two of these $1,000 buy-in tournaments – the first event will be held on June 15 for players who are 50 or older and the June 17 which has been dubbed the “super senior” event will be for players who are 60 or older.