A Comprehensive Look At This Summer’s Las Vegas Poker Tournaments

May 21, 2015
A Comprehensive Look At This Summer’s Las Vegas Poker Tournaments

The summer tournament season is about to kick off in Las Vegas.

The World Series of Poker is just one week away. Smaller events have already started. We have compiled a list of the poker tournament series spread in Las Vegas between now and the middle of July.

World Series of Poker – May 27 – July 7

The World Series of Poker is the main attraction in Las Vegas this summer.

The first event, as always, is the $565 Casino Employees tournament. It starts at noon on May 27. The cash games, satellite area, and registration open at 8am on the same day.

There will be 68 events at the 2015 World Series of Poker. Most days offer two bracelet events with one starting at noon and the other at 4pm. Large events will have multiple flights instead of a separate tournament later in the day.

The $10,000 Main Event starts on July 5. The last Day 1 for the $10,000 Main Event starts on July 7.

The first online bracelet event in history will be held on July 2. It starts at noon and is Event #64. Any player in Nevada that is 21 years of age or older may enter. Deposits used to buy into this tournament may be made at the Rio cage or through a variety of options online that include Mastercard, Neteller, and electronic check.

WSOP.com is already running satellites to the $1,000 Online Bracelet event, the $10,000 Main Event, and qualifiers for any event with a $1,000 buy-in. The satellite options available will expand as poker players populate Nevada this summer.

Traffic at WSOP.com in Nevada soared during last year’s World Series of Poker. We expect the same this year.

Orleans Open – May 20 – May 27

The Orleans Open has been a nine or ten event series in the past. It is down to eight tournaments this year.

The standard three Omaha High/Low tournaments are spread. The Orleans is the home to Omaha High/Low in Las Vegas.

There are four No Limit Texas Hold’em tournaments and one HORSE event. Regular events have a $240 or $340 buy-in. The Main Event on May 27 has a $550 buy-in. All events start at noon.

2015 Orleans Open tournament schedule

Planet Hollywood Phamous Poker Series – May 31 – July 5

The Phamous Poker Series at Planet Hollywood is guaranteeing nearly $5 million in prize pools this summer. Most tournaments are No Limit Texas Hold’em. There are some mixed games, as well as Pot Limit Omaha, and Pot Limit Omaha High/Low.

The Goliath Main Event at the Phamous Poker Series has a $1,150 buy-in. It starts on June 25. The guaranteed prize pool is $1 million. Most of the other tournaments have a buy-in between $130 and $565.

There are two or three events most days. The early tournament starts at 11am. The latest start time each day is 4pm.

2015 Phamous Poker Series schedule

Wynn Classic – June 4 – July 11

The Wynn Classic kicks off on June 4.  All events are No Limit Texas Hold’em.

Most events have a buy-in of $300-$600. The main event has a $1,600 buy-in. It has a $1 million guaranteed prize pool. Smaller buy-in tournaments are one-day events. Larger events spread two or more days. Some have multiple flights spread throughout consecutive days.

2015 Wynn Classic schedule

Binion’s Classic – May 23 – July 4

Binion’s was the original home for the World Series of Poker. After the world’s most famous poker series moved to Rio upon being acquired by the company now known as Caesars Entertainment, Binion’s launched its own summer poker tournament series.

It is much smaller in size and level of buy-ins, but is a great value.

Another advantage of the Binion’s Classic is the dealer quality. Binion’s employs many experienced dealers for its summer tournament series.

Most events are completed in one day.

The exception is the $400 Masters Poker Series on June 20, which is a two-day event. In addition to the standard No Limit Hold’em events, there is HORSE, Pot Limit Omaha, Pot Limit Omaha High/Low, and Fixed Limit Omaha High/Low.

Most events have a $160 or $220 buy-in. The championship has a $1,000 buy-in. There is also a World Series of Poker Main Event qualifier for $550.

2015 Binion’s Classic schedule

Grand Poker Series May 27 – July 2

The Grand Poker Series is held at the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas. The event has been criticized in the past for its high rake. The new management listened and reduced the dealer hold by 3% this year.

There are two events daily. There is a No Limit Hold’em tournament each day.

The other is non-Hold’em. This includes Pot Limit Omaha, Pot Limit Omaha High/Low, Fixed Limit Omaha High/Low, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud High/Low, and several mixed game variations. The buy-in for most tournaments is either $140 or $240.

Some days spread just one event. These are typically a $350 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament with a $100k guarantee or a $560 event. There is also a $560 heads up tournament and a $250 Seniors event.

2015 Grand Series of Poker schedule

Aria Classic/World Poker Tour 500 – May 31 – July 6

Aria spreads two daily tournaments from May 31 through July 6.  All but two events are No Limit Hold’em.  A $450 2-7 Triple Draw tournament will be held on June 14. There is also a $235 Pot Limit Omaha on June 23.  There is a seniors and ladies event during the Aria Classic.

The early daily event starts at 1pm most days, with special tournaments starting at either 11am or 2pm.  The 7pm tournaments are $150 No Limit Hold’em or $125 Super Satellites for the WPT 500.

Venetian Deep Stack – May 20 – July 19

Venetian is offering DeepStack Extravaganza III. It offers $11 million in guaranteed prize pools through its two-month run.

There are two events most days. The first daily event starts at noon. The second begins at either 5pm or 7pm, depending on the day and event scheduled. Most buy-ins are $200 to $600. There are a handful of $1,100 and $1,600 tournaments.

Most Venetian DeepStack tournaments are No Limit Texas Hold’em. Many offer bounties. There are a handful of Pot Limit Omaha, Pot Limit Omaha High/Low, Fixed Limit Omaha High/Low, and Big O.

It should be noted that Venetian’s parent company Las Vegas Sands lobbies heavily against online poker. There are many players in the community that refuse to give action to Venetian for this reason.

In the best interest of offering the most complete information, we included it in our list.

2015 Venetian DeepStack schedule

The online poker community compiled a great spreadsheet highlighting the schedule of Las Vegas summer poker tournament series. It may be found here.

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