For the first time ever in the history of World Series of Poker, an online bracelet event was announced in the 2015 calendar of WSOP events. Officials of the tournament have now proposed a change in the format of this $1,000 buy-in No Limit Holdem tournament.
As per the official announcement of 2015 WSOP schedule released in February, Event #64 was to be played online at wsop.com starting on Thursday, July 2 at 12 PM local time. Any person can play in this online bracelet event from anywhere in Nevada on PC or mobile devices. The online MTT will continue till it reaches the heads-up battle. The final 2 contenders will take their seat at Rio the next day to crown the champion in a live heads-up match.
The organizers have now proposed to pause the online tournament being played on July 2 once it reaches the final 6 players. The remaining players will return to Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino to play a 6-handed final table live game. The proposed change in format of the maiden online bracelet event is subject to the approval of Nevada gaming regulators. However, there shouldn’t be any obstacle in getting it approved as WSOP has not accepted any pre-registration for this event till date.
Another change in this event is regarding the dates of the final table live game at Rio. Earlier the live game was to be played on July 3, the next day of online MTT. However, the organizers have realized that player may not be able to reach Rio in time on July 3 from all over Nevada. Hence, the live final table will be scheduled on July 4.
“We had concerns initially of getting the players to the Rio the next day to play out the event live,” Seth Palansky, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Caesars Interactive Entertainment told pokerfuse. “But we’ve decided that July 3 will be a ‘travel day’ in essence for any players not in proximity to Las Vegas. As such, we will play the final table on July 4 now. This allows us to increase the live portion to six players and know we can get them all to the Rio in time.”
2015 WSOP kicks off on May 27 and will be played for 7 weeks at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The 46th edition of the tournament will feature 68 bracelet events and will climax with the formation of November 9 on July 14.