Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

More than 13,000 expected in new poker Colossus event

WSOP Main Event: Day 1

John Locher / AP

Players compete on the first day of the World Series of Poker main event Saturday, July 5, 2014, in Las Vegas. Players are vying for the $10 million first-place payout at the poker tournament. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Updated Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014 | 12:38 p.m.

The prizes will no doubt be plenty but so will the competition when the 46th annual World Series of Poker returns for 49 days next year.

The premier poker tournament with more than 60 separate events produced by Caesars Entertainment is returning May 27 to July 14 to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Organizers announced a new event will join the lineup in 2015. Dubbed "the Colossus," the no-limit Texas Hold 'Em event will have a $565 buy-in — the lowest, organizers said, for an open event in the tournament in 35 years — with a guaranteed total prize pool of at least $5 million. Organizers expect more than 13,000 entries.

The closely-watched Main Event that attracts several thousand players battling for a one in nine chance to win $10 million is scheduled for July 5 to July 14. The buy-in is $10,000 and the final nine players return in November to vie for the top prize.

This year's winner, 27-year-old Sweden's Martin Jacobsen, was one of three Europeans at the final table who spent hours of intense head-to-head gameplay over two days to eventually take home $10 million.

More than 82,000 people entered the 2014 World Series of Poker's 65 events in 2014. The event got its start as a small single table in 1970 at Benny Binion's Horseshoe Casino, where the players ultimately voted on the winner in the end.

This year, the tournament handed out more than $227 million in prizes, in addition to coveted gold bracelets awarded to the top winner in the tournament's individual events.

Buy-ins at the 2015 event range from $75 to $111,111 and feature niche events for seniors, women and one that promises at least $1 million to the winner. The full schedule of events is expected to be released in January.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy