If, like many poker fanatics, you’ve been impatiently counting down the minutes until key details of 2019’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) are revealed – the wait is now over.Running for 50 days, from May 28th to July 3rd, this year’s WSOP marks the 50th anniversary of the most prestigious, long-running poker tournament in the world. You know what that means – there is plenty to get excited about. Today we’re looking at what’s new this year, as well as the trusty favourites making a return…

NEW

The Big 50

Kicking off WSOP 2019 is The Big 50 – a rake-free $500 buy-in ‘golden event’with an enticing $5 million in guaranteed prize money up for grabs. The winner will be the first of the whole competition to win $1 million. Organisers are expecting big things for this opener. In fact, they suspect it will become the biggest WSOP event the competition has ever seen. Proceedings commence on May 30 with four starting flights, each with one re-entry per flight. For those not in the know, rake-free means that the whole-buy in will go directly to the all-important prize pool. Every player will receive a 50,000 chip starting stack, plus there will be 12, 50-minute levels on Day One. Bought your plane ticket yet?

Mini Main Event

Also fresh on the roster in 2019 is the Mini Main Event, which (as the name suggests) is a miniature version of WSOPs Main Event. It is set to take place two days before the Main Event. To get involved you’ll require a $1,000 buy-in and in return you’ll receive a 60,000 starting chip stack and enjoy 30-minute blind levels.

OLD

The Main Event

Fear not, trusty favourite The Main Event will still provide the crescendo of the competition and this year, more than 8,000 people are expected to hand over the $10,000 buy-in. This year’s Main Event will be played as a freezeout tournament. The fun will start with the first of its three starting flights on July 3rd.

Colossus

Although it has been moved to later in the schedule to make room for The Big 50 – competition favourite, Colossus is still on the WSOP roster. This year, the Colossus buy-in is reduced to $400 from $500 – making it the lowest buy-in bracelet event of the whole competition.

Although the full schedule is yet to be finalised, other exciting events added to the WSOP 2019 50th anniversary schedule include: $1,500 Millionaire Maker, a Tag Team bracelet event, the Marathon, Little One for the One Drop and a 1-day Super Turbo Bounty Event. Over the course of the competition, $200 million will be dished out in prize money. With all this to look forward to, and a festive atmosphere surrounding the tournament, 2019 looks to be an exciting year in the world of poker!