The 42nd Annual World Series of Poker gets under way Tuesday, May 31, at the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The May 31 – July 19 schedule boasts 58 gold-bracelet events — one more than last year. There are a few new events on the docket and PokerNews will be there providing all the action from the felt inside the Convention Center at the Rio as the Official Live Reporting Team of the WSOP.
There are a few new events to the schedule, such as Event #2, the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Heads Up Championship. That event, along with Event #1, the $500 Casino Employees event start things off on Tuesday. From there, you can expect much of the same event lineup as years past being played throughout the Pavilion and Amazon Rooms. One event fans will be anxious to see is the Grudge Match promotion. The Grudge Matches were designed to recreate classic heads-up battles in WSOP history. There are three in all — two were announced by the WSOP (Phil Hellmuth vs. Johnny Chan (1989 WSOP Rematch) and Chris Moneymaker vs. Sammy Farha (2003 WSOP Rematch)) and one was voted on by the fans (Johnny Chan vs. Erik Seidel (1988 WSOP Main Event)). The Grudge Matches will take place on June 2 at the Rio, will be filmed for ESPN, and then broadcast July 26 in two back-to-back episodes.
It all culminates with the $10,000 buy-in Main Event on July 7. Thirteen days later, on July 19, the 2011 November Nine class will be set and the Rio Convention Center will be empty — until November that is. Beginning November 5, the final nine will retake their seats to play down to a champion.
PokerNews is the official World Series of Poker live reporting team and photographer of the 2011 WSOP. On top of the best live reports and photographs in the industry, readers can expect a wide array of content coming from the PokerNews Team. We’ll be broadcasting live podcasts daily from the Rio and the Quad Jacks Radio Show will be live on PokerNews every day from 1300 – 1800 PDT (2000 – 0100 GMT).
Our video team will be bringing you multiple videos a day including interviews with players, and updating you on the progress of play. Also, be sure to be on the look out for fresh new Sin City Series, Sunday Grind, and Blow Your Bankroll videos.
We’ll also be bringing you TwitCams and Soundbites from some of your favorite players, exclusive table-side winner interviews, and player video blogs.
There’s so much to look forward to for the 2011 World Series of Poker, which kicks off at 1200 PDT (1900 GMT). You can follow along on the PokerNews Live Reporting Page, Twitter and our Facebook page.
