2015 WSOP Makes Changes To Help Amateur Players

Chris Moneymaker’s 2003 WSOP Main Event victory may have inspired a new legion of players to try emulating his incredible performance, but by 2006 the ‘poker boom’ was officially over and each of the WSOP Main Event final tables since have been mostly dominated by  professional players. The same can be said of the prestigious tournament Series’ other events, but this year a number of sweeping changes have been made to its format in order to try drawing back in those recreational players on which so much of the game’s sustainability depends.
Consequently, the 46th Annual World Series of Poker has increased the starting stack sizes of those events with $10,000 buy-ins or less so as give players more bang for their bucks. In addition, 11 new events have been added to the schedule, including the lowest buy-in event in 35 years called the $565 Colossus No-Limit Hold’em, and for the first time ever an online bracelet event, $1,000 NL, although the final two players will have to compete live at the Rio in Las Vegas to decide the eventual winner.
However, some of the most drastic changes have been made to this year’s marquee tournament, the $10k WSOP Main Event, which will now payout an unprecedented 1,000 places, as well as guarantee every player at the final table a minimum $1 million payday. Initially, the WSOP had decided to go with a top-heavy $10 million guaranteed first place prize, but the organization’s willingness to listen to player feedback helped it to settle for a payout structure which satisfied the wishes of the poker playing community. Commenting on this year’s Series, WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart, said:
“If you’ve never thought about coming to Las Vegas for the WSOP, this is the year. Now more than ever, the WSOP has something for everyone and with this schedule we believe the value and the opportunity for player success exists in each and every event we are offering in 2015.”