2012 World Series of Poker Schedule Released

The World Series of Poker announced their 2012 schedule Wednesday, revealing a series that will have several changes from last year’s event.

The 2012 WSOP will begin on May 27, with the Main Event beginning on July 7. The Main Event actually features one of the bigger wrinkles to the schedule, as there will no longer be a November Nine; instead, the final nine players will be returning on October 28, and a champion will be crowned on October 30.

The Main Event also features a few other changes. Most noticeably, there will be only three starting days for the tournament, as opposed to the four start times offered throughout much of the last decade. This isn’t a sign that the tournament is shrinking; rather, it’s due to the fact that the WSOP will have more room to operate in the Rio’s convention center. Instead of 378 tables, there will now be 470 tables devoted to the tournament. This will allow for more overlapping events, as well as more players to participate on each Main Event starting day.

Another highly anticipated addition to the tournament schedule is “The Big One for One Drop,” the $1 million buy-in tournament that will raise significant proceeds for the One Drop charity. This three-day tournament will begin on July 1, at (appropriately) 1:11 pm.

In total, there are 61 events on the tournament schedule. The action begins, as is traditional, with the Casino Employees Event on May 27. The first open event takes place the next day: a $1,500 no-limit hold’em tournament.

The biggest absence from the $25,000 buy-in heads-up no-limit hold’em event; the World Championship heads-up tournament will instead be a $10,000 buy-in tournament that takes place on June 5.

However, there are also a few new tournaments on the schedule. The “Mix-Max” format that was so popular at last year’s WSOP Europe has made its way on to the main WSOP schedule with an event that will begin nine-handed but end with heads-up matches. Other new events include a four-handed hold’em tournament, as well as an “ante only” tournament in which there will be no blinds – just antes that increase on each level.