World Series of Poker announces 2016 dates

Save the Date(s). The 47th World Series of Poker (WSOP) – the longest-running, richest and most prestigious tournament series – opens its doors on Tuesday, May 31, 2016 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The something-for-everyone schedule includes gold bracelet events, satellites, cash games and thrice daily deep stack tournaments running for 50 consecutive days, with the WSOP Main Event reaching its final nine players on Monday, July 18, 2016.

The first open event of the 2016 schedule will feature the return of the world’s largest live poker event, which has been revamped to make it bigger and better in 2016. Colossus II will feature an additional $2,000,000 in guaranteed prize pool (thus at $7 million, up from $5 million) and two additional entry flights. Also of note is a guaranteed $1,000,000 first place prize. And perhaps most importantly, Colossus II will use the format successfully introduced at WSOPE's Oktoberfest event where each starting flight plays into the money. This will not only ease congestion observed last year, but also allow a player to potentially cash multiple times in the event.

Colossus II will be a $565 buy-in re-entry No-Limit Hold’em tournament with flights on Thursday, June 2, Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4. The format will include re-entry, allowing players to enter the other starting flights if they fail to advance initially. After a record 22,374 entrants last year, with a first place prize of $638,880, organizers hope to set a new record for largest live poker tournament in what this year will be officially Event #2.

Also back on the schedule in 2016 are the popular Millionaire Maker, Monster Stack, Little One for ONE DROP, Seniors Event and Ladies Championship.

The summer poker festival reaches its pinnacle with the globe’s longest-running poker tournament — the $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em WSOP Main Event championship — which is slated to run over ten consecutive days from July 9 - July 18, 2016 and will feature three starting flights – Saturday, July 9; Sunday, July 10; and Monday, July 11.

The first event on the schedule is the Casino Employees event, which will take place on Wednesday, June 1 this year, featuring a $565 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em two-day tournament.