The excitement is building for WSOP 2019. Hosted at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino from May 28 to July 16, the longest-running and richest tournament returns for its 50th year in Las Vegas.

More than 100,000 square feet of ballroom will be filled with nearly 500 poker tables to accommodate the series thousands of visitors. Planned events have been announced for this year’s tournament, and include Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold’em, Seniors No-Limit Hold’em, Double Stack No-Limit Hold’em, Monster Stack NoLimit Hold’em, Crazy Eight’s NoLimit Hold’em and the Main Event World Championship.

Last year, a record-breaking 123,865 entries participated in WSOP, resulting in a 49-year high of $266,889,193 in prize money. Of course, everyone’s looking to secure the coveted WSOP gold bracelet. The average gold bracelet event last year had a $3,421,656 prize pool, with $655,337 going to the winner. Last year’s bracelet winners included some familiar faces we are likely to see competing this year; the big champion of the year was Justin Bonomo, who won The Big One for One Drop – $1,000,000 No-Limit Hold’em. The American professional poker player walked away with a cool $10,000,000.

Not a high roller? The opportunity is there to qualify for WSOP 2019 via 888 Poker. You can qualify online and buy-ins for tournaments start as low as 1₵. You might even get the chance to play against one of the most familiar faces in poker — Canadian poker star Daniel Negreanu.

“A lot of people have questioned whether I’m out of touch with the game today,” Negreanu said about his new strategy for WSOP 2019. “I talk to a lot of people who are in the trenches playing these [lower buy-in events], but I haven’t experienced it quite at the same level as they have, so I’d like to get a sense of, what are poker issues that they face?

“I know in the high roller environment… We talk about what we’d like to see change and things like that, but it’s a lot different for me to be on my perch, and sort of hear from other people than it is to actually see it myself and have the conversations.

“People who watch the vlog that I do on YouTube daily, they’re not playing the $100K and the $1 Million One Drop,” he added. “It’s cool for them to see that probably, but I think there may be some great content simply, you know, in terms of having a chance to meet the everyday poker player that isn’t spending $10,000 on a buy-in, but they’re spending $500 or $1,000.”

As previously mentioned, 888poker will once again play a big part in this year’s WSOP; for those outside the United States it is the only place to qualify online for WSOP 2019. They’ll also be sponsoring this year’s Main Event, which will offer three different noon starting flights beginning on Wednesday July 3rd, running to Friday July 5th; all fields combine on Monday July 8 to start Day 3 play.

Here’s how to qualify

Anyone from the public aspiring to be a pro can enter WSOP 2019 through 888poker’s satellite qualifier. Qualifiers will run daily through to June 16 and start for as little as 1cent; further low-price points include 10c, $1 and $5.

To ladder your way up to compete for a $1,050 “WSOP 2019 Main Event Package – Qualifiers”, get involved in the daily $16.50 buy-in and $109 buy-in Sunday qualifiers. The $1,050 “WSOP 2019 Main Event Package – Qualifier” runs every Sunday at 20:30GMT.

Those who’d like to win their way to the WSOP Main Event will receive a prize package valued at $12,600, which includes: a 6 nights stay at the luxurious Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas; 10,000 WSOP Main Event buy-in; $1,000 for travel and expenses; an invite to a welcome part at the Vdara Hotel; transportation from the Vdara Hotel to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, as well as an 888poker LIVE kit.

It’s time to get excited for WSOP 2019

There are some fantastic events being held this year in celebration of WSOP’s 50th birthday. While the Main Event World Championship is sure to draw a crowd, this year everyone’s talking about WSOP’s historic new event — Big 50 No-Limit Hold’em — which will launch the series tournament this year. Buy-in for the event is $500, with a guaranteed $5,000,000 in prizes and $1 million winner.

Ty Stewart, WSOP’s Executive Director said: “We’re excited to commence our golden event. We expect our opening weekend Big 50 event to be one of the largest in our history, and certainly one of the best value tournaments ever offered. This is part of our concerted plans to make the 2019 WSOP a better value-all around.”

Expect all the old favourites, like the $1,500 Millionaire Maker, $1,000 Seniors, Double Stack NLH and the $1,500 Monster Stack. New to the tournament series is the two-day $1,000 buy-in Mini Main Event. Starting two days before the iconic Main Event, this mini version will start with 60,000 in tournament chips, making it an exciting addition to the line-up.

“We are proud to be the only tournament series offering such a wide variety of poker variants,” said WSOP Vice President Jack Effel.

Registration for the 888poker satellite qualifiers is now open.