Caesars Entertainment Corporation released the official schedule for the 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP) today, proudly listing a lineup of 61 bracelet events across 50 days. The festival kicks off Sunday, May 27th with the traditional opening tournament, the $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em event, with the first open bracelet event, $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em, beginning the following day. Poker action will take place every day through July 16th, at which point the Main Event final table will be determined and the tournament will break until October.
That’s right, October. The WSOP tweeted yesterday that the November Nine was no more, but that was simply a case of them just messing with the minds of the poker community. The November Nine still exists; it is simply moved to October this year to make way for the U.S. Presidential Election in November. The final nine players will play down to two on Sunday, October 28th and the heads-up match will be contested on Tuesday, October 30th.
Prior to the “October Nine,” the Main Event will require just three starting days – July 7-9 – because 92 tables have been added to the tournament area. The new tables, set up in the Brasilia Ballroom, allow enough players to sit at the same time that Day 1D is no longer necessary. Survivors from Days 1A (Saturday) and 1B (Sunday) will combine for Day 2A on Tuesday, July 10th, while the survivors from Monday’s Day 1C will compete on Day 2B on Wednesday, July 11th. Day 3 on Thursday, July 12th, will be the first day to include all remaining players. There will be no off-days during the Main Event.
The changes to the Main Event schedule, resulting in a Main Event which is three days shorter than last year, were made largely to allow players to spend less time in Las Vegas and therefore less time off from work and less money spent on hotel rooms, dining, and the like. The structure of the tournament will remain the same, with two-hour levels and 30,000 starting chips. Five levels will be played each day with 20-minute breaks in between and a 90-minute dinner break after the third level of the day.
Several new bracelet events have been added this year, including:
Event #3: $3,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold’em / Pot-Limit Omaha – this event will have a 512-player cap and will alternate between the two referenced games every 20 minute level.
Event #6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Mixed Max – the tournament will start with 9-handed tables the first day, switch to 6-handed tables the second day, and will change to heads-up once the field is down to 32 players. Those remaining 32 players will then be seeded according to chip stack and be arranged into brackets with the #1 seed facing the #32 seed in the first round and so on and so forth.
Event #28 – $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em / Four Handed – self-explanatory.
Event #49 – $1,500 Ante Only No-Limit Hold’em – everybody posts an ante every hand and there are no blinds.
Event #55 – $1,000,000 Big One for BIG DROP – that’s a one million dollar buy-in, the most expensive poker tournament in history. 11.1 percent of the buy-in will go to the ONE DROP charity. More can be read about this event here.
There are also two “exhibition” events on the schedule. They are still real tournaments with real money to be won, but no bracelet will be awarded. The first, on June 30th, is the $560 Doubles No-Limit Hold’em Event, where two players team-up, alternating levels, to try to win all the chips. The other, held on July 6th, is the $560 Bracelet Bounty No-Limit Hold’em Event in which any player who has previously won a WSOP bracelet will have a bounty placed on his or her head.
The $50,000 Poker Players Championship, Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship, and Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship are back once again.
2012 World Series of Poker Schedule
May 27 – Event #1: Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em – $500 – 2-Day Event
May 28 – Event #2: No-Limit Hold’em – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
May 29 – Event #3: Heads Up No-Limit Hold’em / Pot-Limit Omaha (512 player max) – $3,000 – 3-Day Event
May 29 – Event #4: Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
May 30 – Event #5: Pot-Limit Hold’em – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
May 31 – Event #6: No-Limit Hold’em Mixed Max – $5,000 – 4-Day Event
May 31 – Event #7: Seven Card Stud – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
June 1 – Event #8: Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
June 2 – Event #9A: No-Limit Hold’em Re-entry – $1,500 – 5-Day Event
June 3 – Event #9B: No-Limit Hold’em – $1,500 – 5-Day Event
June 3 – Event #10: Seven Card Stud – $5,000 – 3-Day Event
June 4 – Event #11: Pot-Limit Omaha – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
June 5 – Event #12: Heads Up No-Limit Hold’em (512 player max) – $10,000 – 4-Day Event
June 5 – Event #13: Limit Hold’em – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
June 6 – Event #14: No-Limit Hold’em Shootout (2,000 player max) – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
June 6 – Event #15: Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better – $5,000- 3-Day Event
June 7 – Event #16: No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
June 8 – Event #17: Pot-Limit Hold’em – $10,000 – 3-Day Event
June 8 – Event #18: Seven Card Razz – $2,500 – 3-Day Event
June 9 – Event #19: No-Limit Hold’em – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
June 9 – Event #20: Limit Hold’em – $5,000 – 3-Day Event
June 10 – Event #21: No-Limit Hold’em – $1,000 – 3-Day Event
June 10 – Event #22: 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit) – $2,500 – 3-Day Event
June 11 – Event #23: No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed – $3,000 – 3-Day Event
June 11 – Event #24: Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better – $5,000 – 3-Day Event
June 12 – Event #25: Limit Hold’em Shootout – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
June 12 – Event #26: Pot-Limit Omaha – $3,000 – 3-Day Event
June 13 – Event #27: H.O.R.S.E. – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
June 14 – Event #28: No-Limit Hold’em / Four Handed – $2,500 – 3-Day Event
June 15 – Event #29: Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship – $1,000 – 3-Day Event
June 15 – Event #30: 2-7 Draw Lowball (No-Limit) – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
June 16 – Event #31: No-Limit Hold’em – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
June 16 – Event #32: H.O.R.S.E. – $10,000 – 3-Day Event
June 17 – Event #33: No-Limit Hold’em – $1,000 – 3-Day Event
June 18 – Event #34: Pot-Limit Omaha / Six Handed – $5,000 – 3-Day Event
June 18 – Event #35: Mixed Hold’em (Limit/No-Limit) – $2,500 – 3-Day Event
June 19 – Event #36: No-Limit Hold’em Shootout (2,000 player max) – $3,000 – 3-Day Event
June 19 – Event #37: Eight Game Mix – $2,500 – 3-Day Event
June 20 – Event #38: No-Limit Hold’em – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
June 21 – Event #39: Pot-Limit Omaha – $10,000 – 3-Day Event
June 21 – Event #40: Limit Hold’em / Six-Handed – $2,500 – 3-Day Event
June 22 – Event #41: No-Limit Hold’em – $3,000 – 3-Day Event
June 22 – Event #42: Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better – $2,500 – 3-Day Event
June 23 – Event #43: No-Limit Hold’em – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
June 24 – Event #44: No-Limit Hold’em – $1,000 – 3-Day Event
June 24 – Event #45: The Poker Players Championship – $50,000 – 5-Day Event
June 25 – Event #46: No-Limit Hold’em – $2,500 – 3-Day Event
June 26 – Event #47: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
June 26 – Event #48: Limit Hold’em – $3,000 – 3-Day Event
June 27 – Event #49: Ante Only No-Limit Hold’em – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
June 28 – Event #50: No-Limit Hold’em – $5,000 – 3-Day Event
June 29 – Event #51: Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship – $1,000 – 3-Day Event
June 29 – Event #52: 10-Game Mix / Six Handed – $2,500 – 3-Day Event
June 30 – Doubles No-Limit Hold’em (Non-bracelet event) – $560 – 1-Day Event
June 30 – Event #53: No-Limit Hold’em – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
July 1 – Event #54: No-Limit Hold’em – $1,000 – 3-Day Event
July 1 – Event #55: The Big One for One Drop – No-Limit Hold’em – $1,000,000 – 3-Day Event
July 2 – Event #56: No-Limit Hold’em – $1,500 – 3-Day Event
July 3 – Event #57: No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed – $10,000 – 3-Day Event
July 3 – Event #58: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better – $3,000 – 3-Day Event
July 4 – Event #59A: No-Limit Hold’em – $1,000 – 4-Day Event
July 5 – Event #59B: No-Limit Hold’em – $1,000 – 4-Day Event
July 5 – Event #60: 2-7 Draw Lowball (No-Limit) – $10,000 – 3-Day Event
July 6 – Bracelet Bounty No-Limit Hold’em (Non-bracelet event) – $560 – 1-Day Event
July 7 – Event #61A: No-Limit Hold’em Main Event – $10,000 – 10-Day Event
July 8 – Event #61B: No-Limit Hold’em Main Event – $10,000 – 10-Day Event
July 9 – Event #61C: No-Limit Hold’em Main Event – $10,000 – 10-Day Event
