Official 2018 WSOP Schedule Contains Nine New Events

December 13th, 2017 | by Jason Reynolds

The 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) schedule has been finalized and published following an unintentional leak on December 6.

WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel has confirmed the 2018 WSOP schedule will contain nine new events. (Image: Jayne Furman/WSOP)

After an overview of the WSOP’s 2018 schedule found its way online and into the French forums of ClubPoker, players began to debate which events would and wouldn’t be on offer next summer.

According to the unofficial screenshots, super high roller tournaments were combined with new additions such as Boost Your Stack events.

With speculation mounting, the WSOP’s Tournament Director Jack Effel has released the final schedule complete with 78 events taking place between May 29 and July 17, 2018.

“With today’s announcement, we hope there is enough time to adjust your holiday wish list. We feel very good about the multitude of offerings on the 2018 World Series of Poker schedule and look forward to welcoming everyone to the Rio in Las Vegas this summer,” Effel said in the December 12 press release.

Effel Ends Speculation With Official Schedule

As ever, the WSOP Main Event will be the star attraction, with the $10,000 championship tournament kicking off on July 2. This year, however, the Big Dance won’t close out the Series. In a twist on convention, the 2018 supporting schedule will run on beyond the start of the Main Event.

On top of smaller buy-in events such as the $1,000 double stack (10,000 starting chips), the post-Main Event line-up with include the new $1,500 “Closer” with a $1 million guarantee. Also bringing the packed festival to a glittering conclusion will be the $1 million Big One for One Drop.

The annual fundraiser for One Drop will take place between July 15 and 17, and this year we’ll see the return of the $1 million buy-in.

The last time we saw the entrance fee hit seven-figures was 2016 at the WSOPE in Monte Carlo. Elton Tsang walked away with the title on that occasion, making him the first $1 million Big One for One Drop outside of the US.

This time around, the event will return to the Rio where Daniel Coleman (2014) and Antonio Esfandiari (2012) have previously won the world’s most expensive tournament.

New Openers and Closers

Beyond the old faithfuls, the WSOP’s organizers have removed five events from the 2017 roster and replaced them with nine new options, including:

$10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em (replaces the $10k Tag Team)
$100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em (new addition)
$365 PLO GIANT (replaces a $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em)
$1,000 DOUBLE STACK No-Limit Hold’em (10,000 starting chips) (replaces a $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em)
$565 WSOP.com ONLINE Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed (new addition)
$1,500 BOUNTY Pot-Limit Omaha (replaces a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em)
$1,000 DOUBLE-STACK No-Limit Hold’em (30-minute levels) (replaces a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em)
$1,500 THE CLOSER No-Limit Hold’em (15,000 starting chips, 30-minute levels) (new addition)
$50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em (new addition)

For those attending, start times inside the Rio will be 11:00am and 3:00pm. For everyone else, PokerGo will be streaming the action live online, while ESPN will be recording exclusive content for transmission across its network. Timetables for broadcasts will be published at a later date.