The World Series of Poker has recently released the full schedule for the upcoming 2022 WSOP. This will be the 53rd installment of the largest poker tournament in the world. The festival is going to be held this summer at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. The 2022 WSOP is going to feature a total of 88 live bracelet events with buy-ins ranging from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars, giving players of various bankrolls an opportunity to participate. The ultimate highlight of the tournament series will be the $10,000 Main Event. The 2022 WSOP promises to be quite different from what we have seen in the past. It was already announced that the 2022 WSOP is going to be held at a new location and will feature new events. Read on for more details.
Main Differences
$25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship
Even though it isn’t a brand new tournament, the $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship will definitely be one of the highlights of the festival. This event has a buy-in of $25,000, which is two-and-a-half times larger than the buy-ins we saw in the previous years. For example, the 2019 WSOP annual head-up tournament costed $10,000 to buy-in to through 2019. This amount was increased all the way up to $25,000 at the 2021 WSOP.
As we have seen, this tournament has brought a bunch of exciting action at the previous WSOP. For example, Jason Koon has managed to take down Hungary’s Gabor Szabo to win his first WSOP bracelet for $243,981
WSOP has also announced that the player cap will be increased to 64 players this year. Last year, this event has managed to gather 57 entries. The $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship is going to take place early on in the series on June 2. This event is going to have a three-day structure.
$100,000 High Roller Bounty No-Limit Hold’em
Once again, WSOP has decided to introduce a new bounty tournament this year. This time it will be the $100,000 High Roller Bounty No-Limit Hold’em. Players will have an opportunity to get a nice prize of $25,000 for each opponent they manage to eliminate. The $100,000 High Roller Bounty No-Limit Hold’em will take place early on in the 2022 WSOP and will kick off on May 31st as the second event of the schedule. The tournament is going to have a three-day structure with one re-entry. This high roller tournament promises to attract some of the best poker players all around the world. With a six-figure buy-in, this event is sure to produce exciting poker action as players battle for the huge bounties.
In order to put things into perspective, the $100,000 High Roller Bounty No-Limit Hold’em has one of the highest buy-ins of the series. It is only surpassed by the $250,000 buy-in for the Super High Roller No-Limit Hold’em and tied with High Roller No-Limit Hold’em.
Million Dollar Bounty No-Limit Hold’em
One of the most notable new events at the 2022 WSOP will be the Million Dollar Bounty No-Limit Hold’em. What’s particularly exciting is that this event will include a mystery bounty for up to $1,000,000 that players can be awarded as they work their way through a field of opponents. This $1,000 buy-in tournament was originally planned and scheduled for the 2020 WSOP. Back then, it was called the Mystery Bounty Event. However, it was of course postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, this bounty tournament is scheduled to have four starting flights from July 2nd to July 4th with Flight D being held in a turbo format. Day 1 will play like a regular poker tournament, without any bounties. This tournament promises to deliver a bunch of poker action due to its huge top bounty of $1,000,000. It will surely attract lots of players and generate a large prize pool.
Tournament of Champions
Another notable addition to the 2022 WSOP will be the return of an old favorite by the name of The Tournament of Champions. This is a freeroll, which is exclusive only to the 88 live bracelet winners in the 2022 WSOP and the 2022 WSOP Circuit ring. This tournament is going to take place from July 18th to July 20th and will be the final event of the 2022 WSOP this summer. The Tournament of Champions is going to feature a $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool. The Tournament of Champions was last held all the way back in 2010. It also ran from 2004 to 2006 and paid out great stacks to the game’s biggest stars. This is going to be the first year when the Tournament of Champions is going to be held exclusively for bracelet winners. Before that, the tournament was invite-only.
The Tournament of Champions was held in 2004 for the first time in the history of WSOP. Annie Duke won the inaugural TOC for the top prize of $2,000,000. In order to achieve this victory, Duke had to beat Phil Hellmuth in a heads-up duel. On top of that, she was the only player out of 10 in this freeroll to finish in the money. Mike Matusow has also managed to win this tournament for $1,000,000 in 2005. He was filled by Mike Sexton, who took it down for $1,000,000 in 2006, and Huck Seed, who won it for $500,000 in 2010.
Brand New Venue
Arguably the biggest change of the 2022 WSOP when compared with previous years will be the move from the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino to the Horsehoe and Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. As WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart said in his latest announcement:
“This year is particularly historic for the WSOP with its move to the heart of the Las Vegas Strip and debut in the best facilities we’ve ever had,”
This move will allow WSOP to have the largest tournament capacity in the entire history of the tournament series. The area of over 200,000 square feet with 600 poker tables will allow for larger tournament fields and larger prize pools.
It was also announced by the WSOP that actor Vince Vaughn is going to be the “Master of Ceremonies” at the 2022 WSOP. He will also participate in some WSOP events. His appearance is definitely going to attract more non-poker mainstream attention.
No COVID-19 Vaccine and Mask Requirements
The 2022 WSOP will feel much more normal when compared to its previous installment. There will be no requirements for COVID-19 vaccines and masks. As a reminder, last year’s mandatory vaccine requirement sparked much controversy among the poker community. Some poker players even decided to boycott the entire festival. Luckily, this year’s WSOP is already less controversial, as a WSOP announcement clearly states that there will be no vaccination or mask requirements:
“The WSOP will follow local, state and CDC guidelines relating to COVID-19 that are in effect during the event. While there will be no vaccination requirement to play in the tournament, players will be accountable to follow CDC guidelines appropriate to them as individuals… based on current state guidelines masks will not be required,”
However, these rules can be changed if Nevada’s epidemiological conditions will require restrictions.
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