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World Series of Poker to Return to Las Vegas in 2021

James Guill

Last year, the World Series of Poker moved online due to the pandemic. This year, the series will return but a bit later in the year. Recently, the WSOP officials made the announcement that the 2021 World Series of Poker will return to Las Vegas in September. Also, the WSOP Online and WSOP Europe will return.

Meanwhile, the WSOP will have a new broadcast home. Starting with the 2021 WSOP, CBS Sports will now carry WSOP TV broadcasts. This ends a contract with ESPN that stretches back to the start of the Poker Boom.

2021 World Series of Poker Will Run Live in Las Vegas

The World Series of Poker will make its triumphant return to Las Vegas in 2021. The 2021 WSOP will run from September 30th through November 23rd from the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. At this time, a complete schedule is not available, but we do know about a few events that will run.

The first weekend will be highlighted by a $5 Million Guaranteed NL Hold’em tournament. There will also be a charity event benefiting health care workers and a $25k HORSE tournament. The 2021 WSOP Main Event will run from November 4th through the 17th. There will be four starting flights this year.

A full schedule for the 2021 WSOP will be released in the coming weeks. However, there are other events to look forward to.

WSOP Online and WSOP Europe to Return

The WSOP Online will return for 2021 and will again feature US and international versions. The US version of the event will run at WSOP.com in the United States from July 1st through August 1st. The series will be primarily NL Hold’em with a handful of PL Omaha events sprinkled throughout.

Events will range in buy-ins from $333 all the way to $7,777. The $1,000 NL Hold’em Championship will run on August 31st. On August 1st, the $500 Grand Finale will feature a $1 million guarantee, the largest online poker tournament guarantee in the history of WSOP.com in the United States. Dates for the international leg of WSOP Online will be out in the coming weeks.

Finally, the World Series of Poker Europe is tentatively scheduled to return this year. The event is currently scheduled to run from November 19th through December 8th at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic.

The 2021 WSOP Europe will feature 15 bracelet events to include the WSOP Europe Main Event and a 50k Euro High Roller Event. This series is contingent on the state of global travel restrictions and pandemic restrictions at the time of the event.

WSOP Signs Broadcast Deal With ESPN

Most anyone that has watched WSOP broadcasts since 2003 has done so on ESPN. That will all change starting in 2021. The WSOP announced this week that CBS Sports Network now has the broadcast rights to WSOP events. Starting in 2021, you can watch WSOP events on CBS Sports Network and affiliated stations like streaming service Paramount +.

This year’s broadcasts will dedicate 15 hours to the 2021 WSOP Main Event along with 36 additional hours divided over 18 bracelet events. According to WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart, “CBS Sports has long been a pioneer in covering a broad range of championship sports. We couldn’t be more excited to see increased television coverage of the WSOP in the coming years and benefit from their growing media platforms.”

CBS Sports Executive VP of Programming Dan Weinberg also spoke on the deal, stating, “Following our past success with Poker Central, we are excited to expand our relationship with the highest-profile and richest event in competitive tournament Poker featuring the best players in the world. This deal fits perfectly in our strategy to combine best-in-class events with our CBS Sports brand.”

CBS is the original broadcast home for the World Series of Poker. It broadcasted coverage of the Main Event in the 1970s as part of its CBS Sports Spectacular. Those broadcasts were generally an hour at the most and usually covering the final table only.