Shuffle Up & Deal: 2019 WSOP Main Event Day 1A

The 50th Annual World Series of Poker Main Event 2019 begins today at noon!

It’s finally here! The excitement leading up to this moment has been culminating for more than a month. Today marks the start of the 50th Anniversary edition of the World Series of Poker‘s most prestigious event, the $10,000 No Limit Holdem Championship – a.k.a. the 2019 WOSP Main Event!

Just over an hour from now, the main event’s tournament director will say those epic words every professional and amateur poker player with ten grand in their bankroll has waited a lifetime to hear. “Shuffle up and deal!” As always, that phrase will mark the official start of the main event as the first of 3 starting flights gets underway at 12:00pm (PST).

All four rooms at the Rio will be in full use today as thousands of players pack into the Amazon, Brasilla, Miranda and Pavillion poker rooms. There, everyone from the games legends and first-time hopefuls will compete against one another for the ultimate prize – the WOSP Championship bracelet… oh, and a massive multi-million dollar purse estimated to reach between $8 and $9 million before the week is out.

Everyone who is anyone will be there, because this is no ordinary run-of-the-mill WSOP Main Event. This is the…

50th Annual World Series of Poker Main Event!

The poker media will be closely following today’s biggest pros, including defending champion John Cynn, Canadian powerhouse Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu, and the Phenomenal Phils(Phil Hellmuth and Phil Ivey). These are just some of the confirmed pros taking part on Day 1A.

The second and third flights will take place Thursday and Friday, also starting at 12 noon. Alternatively, players can wait for late registration, getting in on the action during a pair of Day 2 flights to be held Saturday and Sunday at 11:00am.

Officials Prep for Record-Breaking Attendance

Last year’s 2018 WSOP Main Event drew a massive crowd of 7,874 to the main event tables. The current record is 8,773, set in 2006. With this being the 50th anniversary of the World Series of Poker – the most promoted edition in more than a decade – tournament organizers would not be surprised if the field sets a new record by the time Day 3 arrives next week.

The 2019 WSOP has already turned out to be the most popular in series history. Over the course of the first 66 events, the Rio’s poker rooms have already taken in 147,334 player registrations. That’s more entries than the entirety of the first 36 years of WSOP events combined (1970-2005, 602 events, 125,628 entries).

2019 WSOP Main Event Day 1A Tournament Structure

All entrants will begin with a stack of 60,000 in chip value. The day will consist of 5 blind levels, lasting 120 minutes each. Between each level is a 20 minute break, plus a 75 minute dinner break to interrupt Level 2 at 3:45pm PST (6:45pm EST). The tables are expected to clear out about a quarter after midnight. All who survive this flight will return this weekend for Day 2.