The 54th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas may well be the biggest ever, with organisers revealing a mammoth summer schedule tipped to eclipse all participation and prize pool records.
After its successful debut on the Las Vegas strip in 2022 – which resulted in more than USD $347.9 million (AUD $491,710,363) generated by 197,626 entrants from more than 100 countries – the WSOP will return to the Paris & Horseshoe (formerly Bally’s) Las Vegas casinos with a whopping 95 live events scheduled from 30 May through to 18 July.
Along with several new tournaments, the 2023 WSOP schedule delivers many of the most popular formats and variations, with bracelet even buy-ins starting from as little as USD $300 (AUD $424). The WSOP Tournament of Champions – which will feature up to 12 Aussie qualifiers, including WSOP Circuit Gold Coast Main Event Champion, Po Hu – also returns on 31 May, with a USD $1 million prize pool on offer.
The series will then once again culminate in the USD $10,000 (AUD $14,137) No Limit World Championship Main Event, but despite last year’s impressive showing of 8,663 entries, the WSOP are pulling out all the stops to break the all-time record that was set back in 2006 (currently at 8,773 entries), with a wider range of qualification options and incentives.
2023 WSOP SCHEDULE: New & feature event highlights*
| Date | Time | Event | Buy-in (USD) |
| 30 May | 10am | #1 | Casino Employees No Limit Hold’em | $500 |
| 30 May | 2pm | #2 | High Roller Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em | $25,000 |
| 31 May | 10am | #3 | Mystery Millions | $1,000 |
| 31 May | 12pm | #4 | WSOP Tournament of Champions | Qualifiers ONLY |
| 7 Jun | 10am | #18 | Gladiators of Poker | $300 |
| 7 Jun | 2pm | #20 | Badugi | $1,500 |
| 14 Jun | 12pm | #24 | Secret Bounty | $10,000 |
| 16 Jun | 2pm | #40 | Super High Roller No Limit Hold’em | $250,000 |
| 17 Jun | 2pm | #41 | Big O | $1,500 |
| 18 Jun | 2pm | #43 | Poker Players Championship | $50,000 |
| 23 Jun | 10am | #53 | Millionaire Maker No Limit Hold’em | $1,500 |
| 30 Jun | 10am | #70 | Colossus No Limit Hold’em | $400 |
| 3-17 Jul | 12pm | #76 | No Limit Hold’em World Championship Main Event | $10,000 |
| 10 Jul | 12pm | #80 | High Roller H.O.R.S.E. | $25,000 |
| 11 Jul | 10am | #81 | Ultra Stack | $600 |
| 12 Jul | 12pm | #84 | Short Deck No-Limit Hold’em | $1,500 |
| 13 Jul | 2pm | #87 | Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better & Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better | $2,500 |
| 18 Jul | 10am | #95 | Super Turbo No Limit Hold’em | $1,000 |
Most notably on the live front is the announcement of the first-ever ‘Main Event Mania’ Global Qualification Weekend, which will see a raft of US and international casino partners hosting satellite tournaments from 20-21 May, allowing players to earn their way into the Big Dance on home soil.
And should that elusive record be broken, all participating players will be entered into a random draw on 8 July, where one lucky player will win themselves 30 years’ worth of Main Event buy-ins.
Senior VP & Executive Director of the WSOP Ty Stewart is confident that the momentum generated from last year’s series will re-write the history books, stating in this morning’s press release that “if the Main Event is on your bucket list, this is the year to get to Vegas.”
For more information, including the full schedule for the 2023 WSOP, log onto wsop.com.
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