Last week we announced that the November Nine installment of the World Series of Poker would be eradicated from the schedule for 2012. While this is true, there will still be a lag between play after the final table is settled in July, but poker fans won’t have to wait quite so long. The full schedule for the 2012 WSOP was released with a few tweaks from what we are used to. First of all, the final table will be carried out in October, not November. This is mainly due in part to the 2012 presidential election that will take place during the first week of November. So as not to interfere with the election, WSOP officials have moved the final table up just one week.
The prestigious tournament series will start up on May 28th, Memorial Day, and run through July 16th when the final table of the Main Event will be determined. Play will then break until Sunday, October 28th; heads up play will commence on Tuesday, October 30th.
Other important changes include revolve around the Main Event as well. There will only be three starting days this year, July 7th, July 8th, and July 9th. Day 2 will start on July 10th for Day 1A and Day 1B players. Day 1C survivors will play Day 2 on July 11th. All players will then combine for Day 3 on July 12th. The event will progress through five full levels per day and have one less day than last year. These changes are for the benefit of players who have to take off work for the Main Event and will also cut down on travel expenses and down time between days. There will also be no off day this year. One thing that won’t be compromised though is tournament structure, according to WSOP officials.
A couple new events have also been added including a $1 million buy-in event, the Big One for ONE DROP, a charitable tournament for which 11.1% of the buy-ins will go to ONE DROP.
The WSOP will again be covered almost-live on ESPN and ESPN 2 and will take place at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Jack Effel, WSOP tournament director for the 7th year in a row, says, “This year’s WSOP schedule is very exciting. We’re introducing some fantastic new events, while bringing back many successful stalwarts that our players love. We will expand our footprint this year to include extra tables dedicated to cash games, as well as plenty of satellite and single-day tournament space, so players will have an easy time finding a desirable game without ever having to leave the Rio Convention Center.”
