WSOP Schedule for 2020: Tournaments and The Best Tips for Your Trip

Image Pixabay

Table of content

• Finalized WSOP schedule
• General 2020 WSOP information
• The Main Event and other notable tournaments
• Tips for your WSOP trip

Every year for decades now, the World Series of Poker gathers people from all over the world in Las Vegas to test their luck and skills on the green felt.

The biggest yearly poker event around, the Series attracts seasoned professionals and casual players alike, everyone carrying with their dreams, goals, and desires.

This year will be no different as the WSOP schedule 2020 offers something for everyone. Long gone are days when World Series of Poker featured just a few Texas Holdem events.

These days, you can find bracelet events you can join for as little as a few hundred bucks. Some like it, some say that it takes away from the prestige of coveted bracelets, but these tournaments are here to stay.

Whether you’re an experienced player who’s been to the WSOP numerous times or someone going for the first time, planning ahead is important. To make it easier for you, I checked out the upcoming WSOP schedule (or at least the information that’s available at the moment) to provide you with some tips and tricks ahead of your journey.

Finalized Events For WSOP Schedule – 2020

WSOP Schedule 2020 General Info

Last year, the World Series of Poker celebrated its 50^th anniversary in style with some special events to boot. So, WSOP 2020 will be the 51^st iteration of the world’s best-known and best-loved poker event.

Like every year for some time now, events will take place at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The first bracelet event on the WSOP schedule 2020 will kick off on May 27, and once those cards are in the air, they’ll remain there until July 15. That’s 51 days of non-stop poker action!

WSOP officials are yet to announce the full schedule, but they have announced dates for some of the biggest and most popular events. It’s quite clear already that this Series will offer a lot for players to look forward to and feature an excellent mix of tournaments for everyone.

Even if you have a small bankroll and are on a budget, you’ll still be able to jump into few events and have a shot at your very own bracelet.

The WSOP 2019 shattered all the records, attracting 187,298 entries and generating a total of $293 million in prizes. It brought the average prize pool of a WSOP bracelet event to $3,257,592. There is no doubt that the World Series of Poker 2020 will seek to set a new record.

No Big Changes In 2020 WSOP Thus Far

Although the information about the WSOP 2020 schedule is still somewhat limited, it seems there will be no huge changes you need to worry about. All the events that have been confirmed have been a part of the Series before, and there are no big surprises there.

One of the changes, that you may want to know about, concerns the Tag Team event. In the previous years, WSOP allowed between two and four players to register as a team. For the WSOP 2020, this has been limited to two players only.

Other than this, there’ve been some changes with starting times but nothing too significant. The Seniors Event and the Big 50 (which is coming back) will kick off at 10 AM instead of 11 AM. The final event of the Series, the Closer, will be starting at noon instead of 11 AM.

WSOP 2020 Main Event: What Everyone Wants to Know

Although smaller events are fun and give a wide range of people a chance to taste the atmosphere of the Series, one tournament always remains in the focus: the Main Event.

Featuring massive prize pools and gathering thousands of players, WSOP Main Events throughout the Series’ history have changed the lives of many.

The WSOP 2020 Main Event will be no different.

Cards will get in the air on July 1^st, and the tournament will stretch over the next couple of weeks. The final table will take place on July 12^th – 14^th and all the final table action will be shown live on ESPN so fans from all over the world will have a chance to keep up with the action in real-time.

While WSOP officials have experimented with guaranteed prizes for the winner in the past, there is no mention of this on the WSOP schedule 2020. The buy-in for the tournament is, as always, $10,000, and there will be three starting flights. The registration will remain open through six levels on each of the starting days.

Remember, there are no reentries, so once you bust, your Main Event dream is over.

Luckily, there are many other tournaments to jump straight into if this happens to soften the blow. If you’re into cash games, the action is usually crazy in Las Vegas this time of year, so you won’t have any problem finding some juicy games at the Rio and many other locations in Sin City.

Day 2 of the WSOP 2020 Main Event will take place on July 4 and 5. Then, on July 6, all players still standing will combine for the first time and continue to fight their way to the final table and duke it out for the most prestigious bracelet of them all. Or the most coveted one, at the very least.

$1,000 Mini Main Event

If you don’t have the bankroll to dish out ten grand for the 2020 World Series of Poker Main Event, there is the cheaper alternative in the form of the Mini Main Event. This tournament is scheduled for June 29 and features a buy-in of $1,000, so get ready if you are plannign to play it.

The starting stack is 60,000 chips, just like in the big one but levels are much shorter, i.e., 30 minutes as opposed to 120 minutes in the $10,000 Main Event.

Big 50 Tournament is Back in 2020 World Series Of Poker

Last year, to celebrate its 50^th anniversary, the World Series of Poker introduced a brand new event called the Big $50 into their schedule. Featuring a buy-in of just $500 and a massive guaranteed prize pool of $5,000,000 (with a cool million for the winner), this tournament was a huge success.

So it is no big surprise that the Big 50 has found its place on the WSOP schedule for 2020.

The WSOP is still to announce the exact details of the event, but it will kick off on June 28^th. The buy-in is once again $500 and you’ll get a 50,000 starting stack and 50-minute levels.

Last year, the event attracted 28,371 entries, making it the biggest-ever poker tournament in history. The eventual winner, Femi Fashakin, walked away with more than $1.1 million, so the first place guarantee was shattered quite substantially.

It’s not still 100% certain if the WSOP schedule will stick to the same format, i.e., $5 million guarantee and $1 million for the winner but given the last year’s success of the Big 50, there is probably no reason to change anything.

WSOP 2020 Big One for One Drop: Yes or No?

Featuring the massive $1,000,000 buy-in, the Big One for One Drop event has been one of the biggest hits on the WSOP 2012 schedule. However, this event hasn’t been the regular feature at the Series.

It came back to Las Vegas in 2018, but it was a one-off as it was once again missing from the 2019 schedule.

So, will the Big One for One Drop find its place on the WSOP schedule 2020? It’s hard to say. So far, there have been no information about it and no hype in the media. It indicates that the event will likely be skipped once again but nothing is certain as of yet.

So far, WSOP officials have announced dates for only 15 events, which is probably a quarter of the full WSOP 2020 schedule. However, with the Big One specifically, given the huge buy-in and the limited number of spots, the date is usually set early on.

So the fact there is no information whatsoever as of yet probably means that we won’t get to see the best of the best duke it out with rich businessmen for a huge first prize.

Other WSOP 2020 Schedule Events to Look Out For

If you want to plan your WSOP trip, you’ll probably need some more information about events, and this will come in due time (hopefully sooner rather than later). World Series officials are still to announce starting times for some important tournaments like the Players Championship, Heads Up Championship, etc.

That said, there are a few other tournaments that have already been confirmed that you should have on your radar.

• The Millionaire Maker – June 5 & 6 with a $1,500 buy-in and a shot at a huge money
• Monster Stack – June 12 & 13 featuring a $1,500 buy-in & no re-entries
• June 18 – Seniors Event (50+)
• June 22 – Super Seniors tournament (60+)
• June 24 & 25 – the Colossus, with the buy-in of just $400

Many of the tournaments that have already been confirmed feature affordable buy-ins and offer a chance to experience the WSOP without breaking the bank.

While some may be opposed to this practice, I think this approach by the WSOP makes a lot of sense. There are still plenty of prestigious and expensive events for the pros but the World Series of Poker should have something for all the fans of the game, not just those with huge bankrolls.

Useful Tips & Tricks for WSOP 2020

If you’re set on going to Vegas this summer to play some poker, you should start planning ahead of time. Some early preparations will help make your stay much more enjoyable and will likely save you quite a bit of money.

Flights & Accommodation

The first thing you need to figure out is when you want to go and how long you want to stay. If you’re not from the US, the trip can be quite expensive on its own, so you want to start looking for good deals as soon as possible.

You can get your plane tickets at a discounted price if you book well ahead of time.

So, if you want to go, start looking now and check what’s available for the dates you’re planning. There are some amazing deals out there if you book a few months ahead.

The same goes for accommodation. Once the WSOP 2020 is in town, prices will go up and it will be harder to find a place with a good location. So try to book your place well ahead of time and get that out of your mind.

If you’re traveling with some friends, you should look into renting a house and splitting costs. There are some great places you can get at more than reasonable prices, and if you pull your money together, you’ll get a much better deal than if you were all paying for accommodation on your own.

Plan in advance what you will play

Maybe you want to hit deep stack tournaments, or you feel like you have an edge in turbo structures, or want to get into the smallest possible rake events, you can find it all in the World Series of Poker.

If you want to maximize your EV and choose the most profitable tournaments from the WSOP schedule, you need to research what you are planning to play.

On top of that, during WSOP, other Las Vegas casinos also offer various series, where you can find a lot of smaller tournaments, so it makes sense to check it out as well.

This will help you plan your bankroll and find the best possible games. So instead of trying to play as much as you can, pick your tournaments and play only the good ones!

Early Registration

Even if you’ve never been to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker, you’d likely seen vlogs from some of the popular players during the recent years. In some of those vlogs, you can see that registration lines for certain events can be absolutely mental.

The WSOP will open certain smaller buy-in tournaments for early registration in March/April, and you’ll be able to do it online.

If you already know what events you want to play and want to ensure your seat on a particular day, you should definitely take advantage of the early registration feature.

After all, there is so much to do in Vegas, whether it’s playing poker or just checking out what the city has to offer.

Stay within your bankroll during the WSOP schedule

While playing the WSOP Main Event can be thrilling, you should not jump to this tournament if you do not have sufficient funds and risk a big part of your poker bankroll taking one shot.

However, instead of buying-in directly, you can participate in many satellites during the series and win your seat in the big one. Also, you have an option to sell a part of your shares and still have an unforgettable experience in Las Vegas without breaking the bank.

If none of these helps, do not be harsh on yourself and choose cheaper tournaments. These have much smaller fields and very few professional poker players, so it drastically reduces the variance and gives you a way to build that bankroll.

Learn to rest and keep your energy

Long tournament series, just like the WSOP schedule suggests, require a lot of energy and concentration.

So instead of partying all the time, you should take such a trip seriously and do everything that can help you increase the chance to succeed. To mention a couple of things:

• Get a good night's sleep – probably one of the most important parts of being able to focus and play long sessions, so make sure to rest before playing.
• Excercise – that is not a problem in Las Vegas since most hotels have a gym, and even if you don‘t find one, you can easily exercise simply in your room and increase your energy level.
• Eat healthy food – it is harder to stick to healthy habits while traveling, but when you know that it can make a difference from almost sleeping at the table to making profitable decisions when your opponents are barely keeping eyes open, it should be enough motivation to do that.

Even if that does not look like much at the moment, it will be a huge help in the long run.

Prepare for WSOP schedule

If you are not used to playing in live games, it makes sense to practice and play at least a couple of tournaments in your local casino before visiting the World Series Of Poker.

It is worth brushing up your strategy because you could be up against the top players if you are not particularly lucky with your table draw. Therefore, now it is a good time to join a poker training site and go to 2020 WSOP fully prepared.

Also, you can take advantage of poker software to prepare for the games, so everything is up to you!

Have some fun

Last but not least, enjoy your time in Las Vegas and have fun.

Do not rush playing, do not try to impress others by fancy moves you see on TV or go out of line. You are not here to impress others, so enjoy the moment and play as good as you can.

On top of that, do not forget to visit at least a couple of attractions and actually have some fun to fully enjoy your trip. Resting and taking your mind from the game can help you a lot, especially if you are in for a longer stay.

WSOP Schedule Summary

Now you know how to prepare for the trip, and here is a couple of notable evens you should remember.

• World Series of Poker 2020 lasts from May 27 to July 15
• The Main Event kicks off on July 3
• The ME final table will take place July 12 – 14
• The Big 50 is back on the WSOP schedule 2020
• Millionaire Maker & Monster Stack will be offered once again
• Make your WSOP 2020 preparations early to save money & time