The $3M+ Grand Poker Series at the Golden Nugget Kicks Off May 31
With the beginning of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) about a month away now, many players from around the globe are finalizing their travel plans to head to Las Vegas for the “Big Show.” While there is plenty of poker action to be found at Bally’s in the official WSOP arena, a lot is going on in Las Vegas away from the WSOP as well. Over the next few weeks, we’ll preview some of the non-WSOP poker action to be found in Vegas during the series.
With so many poker players in town for the WSOP, many other venues are also hosting poker series to coincide with the main series running at Bally’s. The Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino on Vegas’ historic Fremont Street is among them.
Running for most of the full length of the WSOP, The Grand Poker Series at the Golden Nugget is a great chance to get away from the WSOP chaos while still scratching your poker itch. The series kicks off on May 31 with three events and runs through July 3 with 81 events across that period.
There is more than $3 million guaranteed in the series, so there is plenty of money to be won. There are six events with $100k or more guarantees, with the biggest game guaranteeing $1 million in prizes.
A Look at The Grand Poker Series
For players looking to get out of Bally’s and away from the crush of the WSOP, there is still lots of poker action elsewhere, including the $3+ million guaranteed The Grand Poker Series at the Golden Nugget.
The series starts on May 31 with 3 tournaments including a $5,000 guaranteed Dealer’s Choice game for $250, and a $150 NLH game with $10k guaranteed plus a Big O game.
There are a lot of big guarantees across the schedule as well, and those big prizes get going early. Event 10 starting June 2 is a $200 No-Limit Hold‘em game with $250k guaranteed and nine starting days from June 2 through Jun 4.
One of the other $250k events is also one of the most popular new formats on the scene, a Mystery Bounty game. The Mystery Bounty format combines the standard knockout format with a bit of a lottery with randomized bounty prizes that give some players huge bounties. The Mystery Bounty has nine starting flights running from June 17 through June 20.
In total there is nearly $3.3 million guaranteed across the month-long series. That includes $1 million and $500k guaranteed events as several $250k guarantees.
The Biggest Games
| Event | Dates | # of Day 1s | Guarantee | Buy-In |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $ 1,100 No Limit Hold'em (Event 55) | Jun 24 - Jun 28 | 3 | $1,000,000 | $1,100 |
| $ 600 No Limit Hold'em - Championship (Event 73) | Jun 30 - Jul 3 | 3 | $500,000 | $600 |
Nearly half the series guarantee is locked up in the two biggest games, the $1,100 Event 55 with $1 million guaranteed, and the Championship game with $500k guaranteed on a $600 buy-in.
Both of the biggest games have three starting days. The $1 million guarantee gets going on June 24 for Day 1a, and 1b and 1c run on the 25th and 26th of June. The big prizes start getting handed out on June 27th with the final table running on June 28.
The Championship event isn’t actually the biggest game of the event. The $1,100 is the biggest game of the series, but the Championship game is juicy as well with half a million guaranteed.
The three starting days for the $600 Championship event get going on June 30, and the final prizes will be handed out on July 3.
Lots of Variety
While the series is no-limit hold‘em heavy, fans of other forms of poker can get their fill as well. The series kicks off with a Dealer’s Choice game but there’s a lot of variety in the mix as well.
While a few of the more obscure variants are missing from the series, the list of game possibilities for fans of the lesser-known formats is impressive and includes four-card games, lowball variants, seven-card games, and draw games.
Poker Formats in The Grand Poker Series
- Dealer’s Choice
- HORSE
- Big O
- Omaha 8 or Better
- O8/Stud8 Mix
- 2-7 Triple Draw
- Mixed Triple Draw Lowball
- Seven Card Stud
- Triple Stud
