WSOP 2024 Players Guide: New Events

In fact the release was made using the more traditional method of updating the schedule page on the WSOP website and issuing a press release. Soon after this was done, at least a dozen poker ‘influencers’ had reposted it on social media and poker content and affiliate sites were frantically trying to be the first to relay the news in full. The info was published so fast on some sites that even Chat GPT was left wondering who had helped them with it?

The number of bracelet events this year has reached a record setting 99, including several new tournaments amongst the traditional favourites. The full daily deepstack and satellite schedules were also published along with a host of other info about the running of the 55th annual poker summer extravaganza that is the World Series of Poker. The highlights include:

So far the initial reception from players on social media has been positive. Some thought that they should have gone one step further and scheduled 100 events, but otherwise there has been little discussion yet on whether the number of bracelets awarded is too many. The devaluing of bracelets discussion will surely come at some point, but for now the player focus is largely on the content of the schedule, as poker players around the globe begin to plan their summers.

Key discussion has focused on some of the new events on the schedule, with many applauding the operator for finally scheduling an Independence Day Celebration tournament. Apparently this has been long overdue and is expected to be a busy one, with two separate starting days scheduled, side-by-side with the first two days of the main event.

There has also been a fair amount of focus on event #41, which has a mouthful of a name, as it is called the $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot! Several Twitter posts were made by people who wanted to win it purely to have won a bracelet in the event with the most long-winded name. Others lamented the work of live reporters who have to cover the event, which won’t be easy, even for the most experienced poker writers.

Another much talked about topic was event #1, the $5,000 NL Hold’em Champions Reunion, in which not only do former main event champions get a free seat to play, but anyone who eliminates one of them wins a $10,000 main event seat as a bounty. A discussion on Twitter was started by Allen Kessler focusing on which former champions are eligible to play and how likely they are to accept the invitation to do so. 

The switch to Landmark satellites brings the WSOP in line with most other live poker operators and was another topic of discussion. Poker strategy authors Dara O’Kearney and Barry Carter didn’t miss the opportunity to highlight a recent module they have done on how to play this type of satellite, in which players win their seats to the target event as soon as they have accumulated a predefined chip total. It’s $25 to gain access to their grade A poker knowledge, get in quick before they raise the price back up to $50!

Perhaps the most discussed topic however is one for which there is not yet an answer. It relates to the series leaderboard, which is a hotly contested award. It is determined by a points system, which many say is heavily weighted to volume of play rather than results, as simply min-cashing an event earns players a lot of points. Many players are calling for the WSOP to make a change to the leaderboard by limiting the number of results that count toward the leaderboard to ten. This way, the winner is less likely to be someone who simply cashed 20 times, but didn’t win anything or even go deep that often. It remains to be seen whether the WSOP will make a change to the points totalling system.

There are 12 new events taking place at the 55th WSOP this summer. The aforementioned Champions Reunion, Independence Day Celebration and Bomb Pot events are clearly the standout new events of the year, but there’s quite a few others that will also peak players’ interest. 

Omaha players are certainly well catered for this series and as well as the inaugural mixed game bomb pot event there are also three other new Omaha events and a mixed game event that includes Omaha variants. For those with deep pockets there’s the $10,000 Big O Championship event that takes place near the start of the series and the $10,000 Mixed Game Championship, which is near the end. Perhaps the most anticipated of the new Omaha events is the $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha Mystery Bounty event. With a high turnout expected, this is being staged with two starting days.

The inclusion of a $5,000 Seniors High Roller is also a first and the $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship will likely be a very popular new event, taking place towards the end of the series, while the main event is still in full flow.

Many of the new events are at lower price points and will be accessible to more players, with the cheapest being the $600 Pokernews Deepstack Championship. Most championship events at the WSOP have a $10,000 price tag, making this is a great opportunity for lower staking players to have a shot at winning a championship tournament.

There are 28 events on the schedule with a buy-in of $10k or more and PokerGo is also awarding PokerGoTour leaderboard points in these tournaments. It is highly likely that the coverage will include the seriously big-money events like the $50,000 Players Championship and the jaw dropping $250,000 buy-in super high roller. I’ve thought about entering that one myself, but it clashes with my weekly $1/$2 home game.