The 2021 edition of the World Series of Poker is not yet over, and yet already the focus has moved onto next year’s instalment.
On Wednesday, Caesars Entertainment announced that the biggest poker festival on the planet would be moving to the Las Vegas Strip – WSOP 2022 will be held at Bally’s and Paris.
WSOP 2022 will run from May 31 through July 19, and the event’s official celebrity Master of Ceremonies will be actor and comedian, Vince Vaughn.
Rumors that this would be the last WSOP to grace the Rio, had been flying for a while. Caesars sold the property two years ago but has been managing the property since. The 2020 edition of the series had been due to take place there but like most of the live poker calendar, succumbed to the coronavirus pandemic.
When a 2021 festival became a viable proposition, Caesar’s decided to hold it there once more – but it was widely expected that it would be the final one, and Bally’s and Paris were likely candidates for the relocation. Nevertheless, Wednesday’s statement represents the first official acknowledgement that this would indeed be the case.
The Rio has hosted the WSOP for the last 17 years. The series moved there because, after Chris Moneymaker’s ground-breaking victory in 2003, the resulting explosion in poker’s popularity meant that, by 2005, it had outgrown its original home at Binion’s Horseshoe.
Moneymaker bested 839 players that year. By the time Joe Hachem took the crown two years later, that number would skyrocket to 5,619. Today, it is easy to take those kinds of fields for granted, but it was the Rio that enabled that potential to become a reality. It will be a tough act to follow.
Hype already being cranked up
As WSOP 2021 draws to a close, World Series of Poker Senior Vice President, Ty Stewart, reflected on the last seven weeks: “As we approach the Final Table, we look back on yet another successful Main Event that exceeded expectations.”
But there was no time for sentimentality. In the same breath, Stewart was already starting up the PR machine, ahead of next year’s extravaganza.
“We are absolutely thrilled with this year’s turnout, both domestically and internationally. As we close out this chapter at the Rio, we are excited to have the iconic Vince Vaughn usher in a new era of WSOP at Bally’s and Paris next summer.”
A keen recreational player himself, Vaughn was on hand to announce “shuffle up and deal” as the Main Event’s final table got underway. The “Dodgeball” and “Wedding Crashers” star is clearly excited about his latest role.
“I have such a strong connection to Las Vegas and am honored to be selected as the Master of Ceremonies for what is set to be the most anticipated World Series of Poker tournament ever,” Vaughn enthused.
“Poker has long been one of my favorite sports, so to be a part of something as historic as the WSOP finally moving to the Strip is an absolute dream. Vegas Baby, Vegas!”
Just around the corner
The 2021 WSOP was pushed back four months due to COVID-19 restrictions. A happy consequence of this is that players will have a much shorter wait for the 2022 version.
The 53rd World Series is returning to its usual starting point at the end of May, meaning that even with bracelets still to be won this year, there are only 193 days until the whole jamboree starts all over again.
However, coronavirus is still an issue and infection rates are on the rise as the northern hemisphere approaches winter. But that didn’t stop the WSOP being a huge success in 2021, so there is no reason to suspect 2022 will be any different.
If all goes to plan, the full schedule for WSOP 2022 should be published in January.
