The 2019 World Series of Poker is now just one week away, with the 50th Anniversary running of the WSOP set to kick off on May 28 and continue through July 16. Poker’s biggest and richest tournament series is once again taking place at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, which has hosted the WSOP since it was moved from Binion’s Horseshoe in Downtown Las Vegas.

The WSOP rolled out the complete schedule of events over the course of several announcements during the first few months of 2019. The slow drip of information helped build hype for the landmark 50th WSOP, but it also might have made it hard for the casual fan to keep track of all the noteworthy changes for 2019.

With that in mind, check out this list of all the most important things you need to know about the 2019 World Series of Poker:

The 2019 WSOP Will Award The Most Bracelets Ever

A record 89 gold bracelets are set to be awarded at the 2019 WSOP, beating out the previous record of 78 bracelets handed out in 2018. There are a total of 80 live bracelet events taking place at the Rio, and another nine bracelets to be awarded online at WSOP.com.

In order to enter every event on the schedule once, a player would need to put up $493,119.

No-limit hold’em is still by far the most highly represented game on the schedule, with 51 events that exclusively feature the ‘Cadillac of poker.’

A total of 20 events on the schedule feature a buy-in of $10,000 or higher, while 54 feature a buy-in of $1,500 or lower. There are also 17 events with a buy-in of $888 or lower, primarily made up of online tournaments, and half a dozen ‘Deepstack’ events. The highest buy-in bracelet event of the summer is $100,000, while the lowest is just $400.

Short Deck No-Limit Hold’Em And The Other Events Debuting In 2019

For the first time ever the World Series of Poker is set to award a gold bracelet for short deck no-limit hold’em. The $10,000 buy-in short deck event is set to kick off at 6 p.m. on June 2.

For those not familiar with the game, short deck is a format that is quickly growing in popularity in high-stakes cash games and tournaments around the world.

The game is played with a 36-card deck, with the deuces through fives removed and a couple of resulting rule changes. Flushes beat full houses and aces can play both as the highest card and as a five in order to complete a nine-high straight.

The short deck event is one of several new tournaments to be held at this year’s WSOP. Other new highlights include:

The Big 50: A $500 buy-in, $5 million guaranteed no-limit hold’em event running from May 30 through June 7. The first buy-in for every participant is rake-free in this special re-entry event designed to celebrate the WSOP ’s 50th anniversary.

The $50,000 no-limit hold’em high roller: This event is also a celebration of the 50th anniversary, but with a very different target audience: super high rollers. The event gets underway on May 31 and is slated to crown a champion on June 3.

The Bracelet Winners Only: The name pretty much says it all. This $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em event is only open to the 1,078 gold bracelet winners who have already secured the WSOP ’s highest honor, along with the 60 or so players who will have joined their ranks by winning an event this summer before the ‘Bracelet Winners Only’ tournament gets underway on July 10.

The ‘Mini Main Event’: This new no-limit hold’em tournament features the same starting stack and blind levels as the $10,000 world championship, but costs only $1,000 to enter. The other key difference outside of the price is that the blind levels each last only 30 minutes, as opposed to the 120-minute levels of the actual main event. This event kicks off on July 1.

The 2019 WSOP will also play host to two events that will raise money for special causes. The Gavin Smith Memorial Poker Tournament is a non-bracelet event that will take place on May 28, beginning at 6 PM. Half of each $200 buy-in will go to the Gavin Smith Trust, which will help provide for the late poker pros family. The Salute To Warriors tournament is a $500 buy-in bracelet event that runs from July 2-5, with a break in the action on July 4 for America’s Independence Day. The WSOP plans to donate $40 from each entry in the event to the USO and other veteran organizations.

Deepstack Events: Six new bracelet events featuring buy-ins ranging from $600 – $800 either no-limit hold’em, pot-limit Omaha or a mix of those two games combined have been added to the 2019 WSOP schedule. The ‘Deepstack’ events will culminate in a ‘Deepstack Championship’ which kicks off on Tuesday, June 25. The $600 buy-in no-limit hold’em event has a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool, with the winner earning a seat into the main event which will be added by the WSOP .

All No-Limit Hold’em Events To Use Big Blind Ante In 2019

Early on in 2019 the World Series of Poker announced that each and every no-limit hold’em event held at this year’s series will utilize the big-blind ante. The press release put out by the WSOP said the following on the subject:

The WSOP introduced Big Blind Ante events into last year’s series on a limited basis, and after careful consideration and study, and broader use, including throughout the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe, the plan moving forward is to use this format in all events where antes exist. It has also been widely adopted elsewhere.

The BB-ante is a fundamental rethinking of what the ante is. The ante in this format is no longer a specified amount that each player pays each hand. It’s now a specified amount that each player pays each round. If a player in the tournament does not have the required amount for both the Big Blind and the Ante, the Big Blind will be paid first, followed by the ante.

The move to big blind antes should help players see more hands per hour, with dealers no longer needing to stop and double check that all the antes have been posted or make change.

Expect To Receive Larger Starting Stacks In Most Events This Year

The 2019 WSOP will also see widespread adjustments to starting stacks, with many events across the series giving players dramatically more chips when they take their seats.

For example, most no-limit hold’em events at the $1,500 price point will feature 25,000 starting stacks this year, up from 7,500 in 2018.

“It is important the modern day World Series of Poker continues to evolve,” said WSOP Vice President Jack Effel in the press release covering the increased starting chips. “People certainly like bigger starting stacks, and we’re happy to oblige while simultaneously adding more value.”

Check out the chart below to learn more about starting stacks for no-limit hold’em and Omaha events:

BUY -IN AMOUNT 2019 STARTING CHIP STACK 2018 STARTING CHIP STACK NOTES $400 40,000 N/A Colossus is only event at this price point $500 25,000 5,000 Big 50 gets 50,000 $600 30,000 N/A New Price Point $800 40,000 N/A New Price Point $888 40,000 8,000 Crazy Eights is only event at this price point $1,000 20,000 5,000 Double Stack: 40,000 chips; Mini Main 60,000 chips; Little One: 40,000 chips w/$111 add-on $1,500 25,000 7,500 Monster Stack, Double Stack & Bracelet Winners Only: 50,000 chips $2,500 15,000 12,500 June 20 event is only NLH event at this price point $2,620 26,200 Same Marathon is only event at this price point $3,000 20,000 15,000 All six events at this price point have same chips $5,000 30,000 25,000 Three NLH events at this price point $10,000 60,000 50,000 All events at this price point have same chips $25,000 150,000 125,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha is only event at this price point $50,000 300,000 250,000 50th Annual High Roller NLH is only NLH event at this price point $100,000 600,000 500,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em is only event at this price point

And here is a look at the mixed, limit, and stud starting stacks:

BUY -IN AMOUNT 2019 STARTING CHIP STACK 2018 STARTING CHIP STACK NOTES $150 10,000 10,000 Daily Deepstack $200 15,000 15,000 Daily Deepstack $250 20,000 20,000 Daily Deepstack $400 25,000 25,000 Daily Deepstack $1,500 10,000 7,500 Various $2,500 15,000 12,500 Various $3,000 20,000 15,000 H.O.R.S.E./Limit Hold’em $10,000 60,000 50,000 All $10,000 buy-in events $50,000 300,000 250,000 Poker Players Championship

Where To Watch Or Stream The 2019 WSOP

The 2019 WSOP main event will see start-to-finish coverage from July 3-16 on ESPN and Poker Central. ESPN is set to televise at least 40 hours of live coverage of the event, along with another 90 hours of originally produced episodes. Poker Central’s direct-to-consumer streaming service PokerGO will also have exclusive WSOP main event coverage in addition to what is offered during ESPN’s broadcast windows.

PokerGO’s live streaming coverage of the final tables throughout the 50th annual WSOP will be announced in the coming weeks, but the WSOP said in a press release that viewers can expect ‘near daily coverage’ from May 30 – July 16.

Check out the current broadcast schedule (subject to change) for the WSOP main event on ESPN/ESPN2:

Date Time Network Event 7/3/19 8:30 PM – 2:00 AM ET ESPN2 WSOP Main Event Day 1A 7/4/19 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM ET ESPN2 WSOP Main Event Day 1B 7/5/19 8:00 PM – 12:30 AM ET ESPN2 WSOP Main Event Day 1C 7/6/19 6:00 PM – 10:30 PM ET ESPN2 WSOP Main Event Day 2AB 7/7/19 2:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET ESPN WSOP Main Event Day 2C 7/8/19 10:00 PM – 2:00 AM ET ESPN2 WSOP Main Event Day 3 7/9/19 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM ET ESPN WSOP Main Event Day 4 7/10/19 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM ET ESPN WSOP Main Event Day 5 7/11/19 12:30 AM – 2:00 AM ET ESPN2 WSOP Main Event Day 6 7/12/19 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM ET ESPN WSOP Main Event Day 7 7/12/19 11:00 PM – 2:00 AM ET ESPN2 WSOP Main Event Day 7 (Play to Final Table) 7/14/19 10:00 PM – TBD ET ESPN2 WSOP Main Event Day 8 (Nine to Six Players) 7/15/19 10:00 PM – TBD ET ESPN WSOP Main Event Day 9 (Six to Three Players) 7/16/19 9:00 PM – TBD ET ESPN WSOP Main Event Day 10 (Three Players to Winner)

Complete 2019 World Series of Poker Schedule