- WSOP is bringing back the Main Event for 2020 with a mixed online and offline format, two finals and a heads-up match
- US and international players will have their own Main Event to sort out before the winners of both meeting at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas for a final showdown
- GGPoker and WSOP have committed additional $1 million for the heads-up match at the Rio on December 30.
Poker is about to return to the United States, not only because online poker traffic has been picking up, but also because the World Series of Poker (WSOP) has confirmed that the largest poker festival in the world will hold a World Championship after all.
The announcement came on Friday, November 13, with the company outlining its plans for a $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Championship, or simply a Main Event. The event will run in two configurations, online and in-person, and cover both international players, with a particular bent on Europe, and US players.
Anyone who wishes to participate and try their hand at the $1 million event will be able to do so by competing internationally on the GGPoker platform or in the United States on the WSOP.com platform. Interestingly, the 888poker platform has not been mentioned by name here.
In any event, US players are welcome to start playing on Sunday, December 13, with international players able to join beforehand on three individual dates, to name:
- Day 1A – Sunday, November 29, 2020
- 1B – Saturday, December 5, 2020
- 1C – Sunday, December 6, 2020
Players in the United States will be able to play from Nevada and New Jersey, which are presently the only whitelisted states where WSOP.com can legally offer online poker. Pennsylvania, which has been advancing with the licensing of poker operators, is still dominated by PokerStars PA, which remains the only legitimate operator.
As to elsewhere, players may sign up for GGPoker and play on the platform in any jurisdiction that is whitelisted and where GGPoker can legally operate.
Two Main Events and a Bigger Final Table
Both the domestic and international poker showdown will have their final tables. All players participating in the early rounds will play online, but once the final table of nine players is decided, the action will be shifted offline.
For the United States, that will be the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and for Europe, international players will head out to the King’s Casino in Rozvadov, the Czech Republic. The Rio will reopen a few days before the Main Events finals on December 28 and December 30, on December 22.
Once a winner is decided from both the domestic and international tables, a final showdown will be held on December 30 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.
To make things more interesting, GGPoker and WSOP.com have agreed to commit an additional $1 million sum for the heads-up match. Players interested in getting in on the action may do so by joining any of the satellite events.
The online format will no doubt contribute to the increasing interest in online poker amid a second wave of lockdowns across the world and Europe in particular.
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