World Series of Poker BIG 50 Living Up to its Name
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When there��s talk of potentially running out of chips for a poker tournament, you know it must be a huge undertaking. For its 50th annual event, the World Series of Poker tried out a little experiment: a $500 buy-in tournament, rake-free for the first bullet, with four starting flights and a $1 million guaranteed first-place prize. WSOP brass anticipated it would bring out the masses, but most people could not have predicted just how big the BIG 50 is turning out to be.
With over 18,000 entries tallied through three flights with one more to go, it's on track to be the biggest in WSOP history in terms of entries. Considering the magnitude, it seems reasonable that the event has come with some bumps and delays as logistics get ironed out.
"I will tell you, the logistics of trying to run an event of this magnitude is you don't quite know what you don't know until you do it, right?" Vice President of WSOP Jack Effel told PokerNews' Sasha Salinger.
"I��m going to put everyone in that is going to come."
While he admits there have been some minor hiccups in the registration process, Effel also emphasizes that they're doing their best and constantly striving to improve upon the process.
"I think that we're good at trying to find the problems, fix the problems, try to ensure those problems don't continue to happen and every day try to be better than we were the previous days." He continued: "At the World Series of Poker, you got a lot of challenges, you got a lot of things to deal with, but I want everyone to know that we're thinking about the problems in front of us, we're thinking about the problems that happened before us, and we're thinking about the problems that are going to happen ahead of us."
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Play NowThe Numbers
To go along with the "50" theme, the event has 50-minute levels, players start with 50,000 chips and there's an overall prize pool guarantee of $5 million - which was already surpassed with the number of players registered on the first starting day. A whopping 4,336 players were registered at the start of Flight A play, and that number swelled to 6,095 when all was said and done. A total of 5,972 more were tallied in Flight B Friday.
"I think that we're good at trying to find the problems, fix the problems, try to ensure those problems don't continue to happen and every day try to be better than we were the previous days."
Saturday's Flight C attracted more than 6,200 with registration ending around 9 p.m., total entries and final prize pool information forthcoming. By 12:30 p.m. Saturday, the final starting flight for Sunday was already sold out for initial entries.
WSOP announced on Twitter that Late Registration seats can be purchased starting at 11 a.m. Sunday with seating for those beginning after Level 3 which should be at noon. For those who are worried about not getting a seat, Effel says no need, as long as you arrive in time for late registration.
"I��m going to put everyone in that is going to come."
As the structure and schedule is set up with players allowed to re-enter once per flight and some Day 2s overlapping the later flights, it is possible to cash in multiple flights as many players will do. Below are the numbers through the first two of four starting flights in the tournament on track to have well over 20,000 entries.
BIG 50 Entries and Prize Pool Information
| Day | Entries | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1a | 6,095 | $2,986,660 |
| Day 1b | 5,972 | $2,843,780 |
| Day 1c | 7,183 | $3,375,570 |
| Day 1d | 9,121 | $4,303,425 |
| Total | 28,371 | $13,509,435 |
Accommodating the Masses
With players flocking to the Rio in the thousands to take a shot at a bracelet in a $500 event with a $1 million top prize, the WSOP has been doing all that they can to accommodate the crowds. To do so, they have cancelled some of the Daily Deepstacks and set up tables in all corners of the building.
In addition to the array of rooms in the convention center, poker hands were being played at tables in the hallways, outside of the gift shop, and even in a vacant bowling alley across from the seafood buffet, among other creative locales to get as many players seated as possible.
Registration lines in the Rio were long and winding, but many savvy players have made good use of the online or mobile registration option that the WSOP has set up through Bravo Live. As each flight "sold out" - including flight D for Sunday - late registration seats have been issued to those wanting to enter or re-enter. Players receiving a "late registration" ticket then stand in the late reg line and wait to be seated as unfortunate players vacate seats, much like the alternate system used at most poker rooms when tournament capacity is reached.
"I will tell you, the logistics of trying to run an event of this magnitude is you don't quite know what you don't know until you do it, right?"
This being the first undertaking of its kind, there have been multiple alterations to the schedule including restart delays with opening flights and Day 2 flights overlapping, all the while also accommodating seating for other events on the schedule. The Flight A Day 2 restart on Friday was pushed back several hours from its original 2 p.m. scheduled start to allow as many players as possible to join the second starting flight.
Players participating in Flight B on Friday had to be flexible as the dinner break was pushed back to after level 10. Then late in the night the decision was made to add another level of play before bagging, all to help accommodate the maximum number of players that they could. The 1,269 that made it through 1B Friday night returned Saturday for a scheduled 7 p.m. flight which was delayed by about 40 minutes as they waited for Flight C tables to break.
While some have griped about the inconveniences that have arisen in terms of logistics of the event, others have been understanding, thankful to have a chance to play for $1 million and a bracelet for a $500 buy-in.
Flight 2B is now in the money, and any player eliminated in the money from 2B can Late Register for Flight D Sunday starting at 11 a.m. The remaining schedule for the biggest poker tournament in WSOP history is as follows, subject to change:
- Day 1D - Sunday, June 2 at 10 a.m.
- Day 2C - Monday, June 3 at 10 a.m.
- Day 2D - Tuesday, June 4 at 10 a.m.
- Day 3 - Wednesday, June 5 at 11 a.m.
- Day 4 - Thursday, June 6 at 11 a.m. (Play down to six players)
- Day 5 - Friday, June 7 at 12 p.m. (Play down to a winner)
Watch the following PokerNews video to hear from Jack Effel himself about the BIG 50:
For more information about registering online, click here. For updates on the BIG 50 at the World Series of Poker, keep following PokerNews as our live reporting team brings you up-to-date information and hands from the tournament floor until a millionaire is crowned.
