WSOP Events to Play

WSOP by Craig on January 24, 2009

The World Series of Poker has become a massive event, that attracts thousands upon thousands of poker players from around the world. You sit at home and you watch the events unfold, and if you are like me you wish you could get into the action. We all can’t afford to put up the $10 000, to play in the main event, but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t play in some of the smaller events. You may not be aware that there are some events on the schedule that are much more affordable, you can also play in qualifiers and try to earn your way in. Come Series time you will see a lot of online sites offering up satellites to get into the big event, but that can be just as taxing as paying the money up front. Here is a few events that were played last year, that can provide players with an excellent opportunity to live out there dreams. And who knows if you do well in one of these you could be playing in the main event in no time.

$1,500 No-Limit Holdem – Last year this event was second on the schedule and ended up with almost 4000 entrants. That is right 4000, which made the prize pool a whopping $5.3 million. As it was early on the schedule the big names showed up eager to get the WSOP under way. Grant Hinkle was the eventual winner taking home more then $830 000, but notables like Chris Ferguson finished third, and Theo Tran finished at the final table in fourth. Making the final table of this event guaranteed you $83 000 and we can all agree that can be a life changing amount of money, even for finishing in the top 100 you could $5 000 plus.

$1,500 Pot-Limit Holdem – If no limit is not your thing, you can try your hand a pot limit game, last year they were back to back on the schedule. The pot limit event will have a much smaller field, 713 players last year, with less players comes a smaller prize pool. But you can still win a great amount of money, last year established pro David Singer won the title and $200 000 plus. You might see a lot of big names, but last year the likes of Tom McEvoy were in the field.

$1,500 No-Limit Holdem / Six Handed – If you like to play short handed games this might the tournament for you, there will be a maximum of 6 players at each table. Once again the field was relatively small last year, with just over 1200 players, but the eventual winner did take home more then $370 000. Commonly this would be a three day event and would appear early on the WSOP schedule, last year it was the ninth event.

$1,000 Ladies No-Limit Holdem World Championship – This ones just for the girls out there, but if you like the idea of matching yourself up against the best women in the world here is your chance. Over a thousand women played in the event last year, making the prize pool $1 million plus, with a winners take of close to $225 000. There is no doubt you will see some of the biggest names in women’s poker in attendance, ladies like Kathy Liebert, Evelyn Ng and Jennifer Tilly. This is World Championship event and will carry a lot of pride and prestige for the women who takes home the bracelet.

$1,500 Seven Card Razz - Well if you would prefer to expand upon your poker knowledge you give this game a try, although I don’t suggest it. If you are not familiar with RAZZ basically the low hand wins, and if want to try go right ahead. 453 players decided last year to invest there money in RAZZ and a poker super star came away with the bracelet, and that man was Barry Greenstein. If you actually enjoy playing RAZZ then this might be your way to get into the World Series of Poker for a cheaper price.

This is just scratching the surface, this list can go on and on. You see there is more then just the main event, your dreams can become a reality, for a much lower price tag. Not only that, but if you choose you can play in some satellites and try and gain entry the long way. We have all heard the stories of amateurs who make it big in the poker world, from Chris Moneymaker to Jamie Gold to Gerry Yang, you could be the next name on this list. Lets face it $1000 – $1500 is still a lot of money, but with some long term planning you can chase your dreams and sit along side the pros for your chance to win a World Series of Poker bracelet.