With expected high demand for Wednesday’s Day 1d session, the World Series of Poker has made the decision to make a significant schedule change for Day 2 in the 2022 WSOP Main Event.
On Monday, the official WSOP Twitter account sent out a PSA to players in the $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event urging those who haven’t yet registered to consider playing in Day 1c instead of Day 1b. The reason being that, due to high demand to play the final Day 1 starting flight, they could be forced to play 10-handed poker on Wednesday.
911 message to players. WSOP will make every effort to sit all players for what may be record Main Event. We urge a… https://t.co/rexje9YqrC
— WSOP (@WSOP)
Day 2 Starting Flights are Changing
The original schedule for the Main Event called for four Day 1 starting flights, one per day starting on July 3. That isn’t changing, but many players will be impacted by the alterations made to the Day 2 schedule.
There will no longer be a Day 2ab flight. Instead, it will become Day 2abc on Thursday with the players returning from Day 1c competing in that flight instead of the second Day 2 session. Day 2d will start on Friday with only the players from Day 1d (Wednesday).
The news likely won’t sit well with some players who were planning on entering Day 1c and expecting to return on Friday. But with demand so high for Day 1d, the WSOP staff felt it was a necessary move.
Last year, a similar situation arose shortly before the start of the 2021 Main Event. It was initially planned to have three Day 1 starting flights, but COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted in Europe, permitting many European players to fly to Las Vegas one day after the opening session was set to conclude. As such, the WSOP added two extra days to give those players an opportunity to compete.
The 2021 WSOP Main Event had 6,650 entries, but there would have been approximately 3,000 fewer if not for the extra two sessions. Many anticipate this year’s world championship event will surpass the 2006 record of 8,773 entries, and Day 1d is expected to be far and away the largest starting flight.
For those already registered for Day 1c or 1d and would like to switch sessions, you can email Tyler Pipal at [email protected].
How it Impacts Other Bracelet Events
The Main Event might be the most prestigious and important tournament of the summer. But it isn’t the only bracelet event currently running. And that means the schedule switch could have an impact on some player’s plans beyond the Main Event.
On July 7 (Thursday), Event #71: $1,111 One More for One Drop No-Limit Hold’em begins with the first of three Day 1 starting flights. For those in the Main Event Day 1c and planned to also register for Day 1a of the One More for One Drop on Thursday, you had better cancel those plans and instead register for Day 1b on Friday.
There are still 18 more bracelet events on the schedule before the series concludes July 17.
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