ESPN, Poker Central Release 50th WSOP Live Broadcast Schedule

While there are still a few months until the World Series of Poker, preparations for a very special edition of the popular poker festival are in full swing

Poker Central and ESPN released on Wednesday their preliminary schedule for live coverage of the 50th edition of the world’s longest-running tournament poker series (full schedule here). The schedule of the two networks includes (but is not limited to) full-day exclusive coverage of the WSOP Main Event, which will take place from July 3 all the way through July 16.

Under a partnership between ESPN and Poker Central, the former will broadcast at least 40 hours of live WSOP coverage and an additional 90 hours of original WSOP-focused content. As for Poker Central, its PokerGO streaming service will air a selection of WSOP tournaments in the weeks prior to the Main Event. PokerGO’s streaming schedule will be announced at a later stage. Most importantly, the service will offer viewers exclusive Main Event coverage that will not be broadcast during ESPN coverage.

WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart said in a statement from yesterday that “significant video coverage is one of [their]

key cornerstones” and that they are grateful to ESPN and Poker Central for constantly expanding the WSOP reach to contemporary platforms and fueling interest in the series and its champions.

Highlight WSOP Tournaments

The full schedule of the 50th WSOP is yet to be announced but organizers have teased a portion of this year’s lineup of events. The whole festival will take place from May 28 through July 16 at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. The WSOP expects to award more than $200 million in prize money this year.

A special Big 50 tournament with a buy-in fee of $500 will kick off on May 30 to celebrate the 50th edition of the popular poker series. The event will feature a guaranteed prize pool of $5 million, with $1 million going to the champion.

A $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold’em with a guaranteed $1 million top prize for the winner has also found a spot in this year’s schedule of the WSOP festival. The tournament will commence on June 7. A Monster Stack with a $1,500 buy-in fee starting June 21 and the Crazy Eights $888,888 No-Limit Hold’em (with $888,888 for the winner) starting June 28 were, too, among the tournaments revealed by organizers.

As mentioned earlier, the Main Event will run July 3-16. Last year’s World Championship drew 7,874 entries, and it is to be seen whether this year’s edition of the tournament will beat prior attendance numbers.

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