Dates for 2023 WSOP Released
With the live poker world back to normal following the unprecedented COVID cancelations of the past couple of years, the 2023 WSOP is back in its usual timeslot starting May 30, 2023.
There is no bigger poker festival on the planet than the summer poker extravaganza in Las Vegas. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is back for another year in its usual early-summer timeslot. Beginning on May 30, there will be bracelets galore on offer throughout June and half of July.
While the dates are familiar to players of the WSOP, the venue this year is something a bit different. For the 2022 edition of WSOP, the series moved from its long-time home at the Rio to Paris Las Vegas, soon to be renamed to the Horseshoe. 2023 will pick up once again in its new home for the second running of the series in the new strip venue.
The marquee event, as always, will be the $10k Main Event, considered by many to be the defacto World Championship of poker. The winner of the Main Event every year becomes a household name in the poker industry and immediately rises to the status of ambassador of the game.
Last year, Unibet ambassador Espen Jorstad was the player who outlasted the field of 8,663 players for a massive score of $10 million. For 2023, the Big Show starts on July 3 and there will be four Day 1 chances to bag a stack for Day 2 and beyond.
Among the feature games announced this week are several beefy guarantees. The Mystery Millions is one of the opening events of the series, and it has a guaranteed first-place prize of a cool million plus another million guaranteed for the biggest bounty in the game. Overall, the preview of the schedule has $6 million in guarantees already announced, and the full schedule is still yet to be released.
Current Details for 2023 WSOP
While we are still waiting on the full schedule for the upcoming World Series of Poker 2023, some of the highlights were released this week. The iconic series is set to run for the 54th time from May 30, 2023 through July 18, 2023 for 50 days of the best poker in the world.
In 2022 there were 88 live bracelets awarded during the regular series in Las Vegas, and it’s safe to guess that the 2023 schedule will likely be just as big. Among the highlights released so far are $6+ million in guaranteed prizes, including a $1 million first-place prize in one of the opening events.
Feature Games at 2023 WSOP
| Event | Date | Buy-In | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mystery Millions | May 31 | $1,000 | $1 million to Winner |
| Gladiators of Poker | June 7 | $300 | $3 million gtd |
| Monster Stack | June 16 | $1,500 | |
| Seniors Championship | June 21 | $1,000 | |
| Millionaire Maker | June 23 | $1,500 | $1 million gtd |
| Ladies Championship | June 29 | $1,000 | |
| Colossus | June 30 | $400 | |
| Mini Main Event | July 2 | $1,000 | |
| WSOP Main Event | July 3 | $10,000 | |
| Lucky 7s | July 7 | $777 | $777,777 gtd |
| Ultra Stack | July 11 | $600 | |
| The Closer | July 14 | $1,500 |
$3 Million for $300
One of the early highlights of the series, and perhaps the main highlight for players with smaller bankrolls, is the Gladiators of Poker tournament. Starting on June 7, the game is the smallest bracelet shot across the whole series at just $300 to sit down at the felt with a starting stack and $3 million guaranteed.
While this game is no doubt aimed at the entry-level players attending the series, with a buy-in low enough for almost any poker player to afford, the huge guarantee is likely to attract some of the best in the game at the same time. That promises to make the game an entertaining mix of a wide cross-section of the poker world.
Double Millions in Mystery Millions
The series proper kicks off on May 31 with the Mystery Millions. While there is usually a Casino Employees event to kick off the series, it looks like the Mystery Millions will be the open-series kickoff for 2023 and it will be a huge one.
The mystery bounty game from 2022 was very well-received and this year it has been moved to the start of the schedule. The new mystery bounty format is taking the poker world by storm, and few are bigger than WSOP’s edition. In 2022, Matt Glantz walked away with the $1 million bounty, and this year there will be another seven-figure bounty in 2023 with an additional $1 million guaranteed for the winner.
The Main Event
The highlight of any series is the Main Event. The $10k buy-in freezeout game is considered the pinnacle of the poker world. It’s not the biggest buy-in game around, but in its 54th year of existence it has become the default championship game for the poker world. The long structure and deep stacks make it an epic poker mountain that takes more than a week to climb to the summit.
The 2023 edition of poker’s biggest game gets going with the first Day 1 flight on July 3. There will be four starting flights through July 6, with Day 2 kicking off on July 7. While there is no guarantee posted for the Main Event, the prize pool will no doubt be huge – the 2022 winner, Espen Jorstad, pocketed eight figures for his epic win.
Main Event Day 1 Flights
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| 2023 WSOP Main Event Day 1a | Monday, July 3 2023 |
| 2023 WSOP Main Event Day 1b | Tuesday, July 4 2023 |
| 2023 WSOP Main Event Day 1c | Wednesday, July 5 2023 |
| 2023 WSOP Main Event Day 1d | Thursday, July 6 2023 |
There is plenty to look forward to this summer at the newly-renamed Horseshoe. The World Series of Poker is always among the highlights of any poker year, and the 2023 edition, with $6 million in guaranteed prizes already, promises to be no different.
