WSOP Preview Part 1: Are You Ready for the WSOP?

Poker's biggest tournament series is just a few days away. A total of 57 events will be played out, culminating with the $10,000 Main Event, which will stretch for 13 days. Let's see what we can expect from this year's WSOP.

Vegas, baby!

The poker scene is counting down the days left until the World Series of Poker 2010 starts. The oldest, richest and most famous tournament series in the world will once again open its gates to thousands of players, all of them having the same goal: to get their hands on the coveted WSOP bracelet.

This year is no different. The search for poker fame is on and the players are getting ready. Are you ready for this year's WSOP? What are your expectations from the tournament series? We don't know, so we wrote our own opinion - share yours in the comments.

PokerStrategy.com will be in Las Vegas this year and we will provide you with daily coverage of the events, as Team PokerStrategy.com members will join the action.

Here is our coverage plan for this year's World Series of Poker:

• WSOP Preview Part 2: Prediction Time! - 25.05
• WSOP Preview Part 3: Introducing Team PokerStrategy.com - 28.05
• WSOP 2010 Coverage: Daily news, pictures, videos, interviews and more - from 28.05 onwards

What is the WSOP?

WSOP, short for World Series of Poker, is the longest-running poker tournament series in the world. It all started in 1970 with a small amount of players taking part in an invitational tournament, which Johnny Moss won. While it initially had one event, the WSOP added more of them with each passing year and since last year there are a total of 57 events in which players can participate. The WSOP  takes place in Las Vegas each year, with the most recent location being the Rio All-Suites Casino and Hotel.

The starting field also grew significantly since its beginnings. What started out with only six players would reach the three-digit number of entrants in a few years. A significant increase in popularity happened after Chris Moneymaker's win in 2003, and a few hundred registrations became a few thousands.

The highest number of participants to date was recorded in 2006: 8,773 players took part and Jamie Gold won the Main Event, cashing $12,000,000 for his accomplishment. Last year, Joe Cada outclassed a field of 6,493 players to win $8,546,435. To this date, more than one billion dollars in prize money has been paid out to the WSOP winners.
We could go on and on about this, but for more history lessons you can check the WSOP page.

The chips will be in the air once again

WSOP 2010 - facts

This year, the WSOP will be comprised of 57 events. The series will kick off on the 28th of May at the Rio All-Suites Casino and Hotel and it will last until the 17th of July. Here are some facts about this year's tournament series:

• the WSOP will last for 51 days, without counting the November final table
• Over 30 of these tournaments will be played out in the No Limit format
• the highest buy-in is $50,000 for Event #2
• 10 tournaments, including the Main Event, will have a buy-in of $10,000
• you can play in a maximum of 54 events, unless you are an elderly lady, in which case you can join two more (the Ladies' and the Seniors' events)

WSOP Main Event

This is, without a doubt, the main goal any poker player should have. Defeating a field of thousands is not an easy task, we know. However, if you win one of these, you're pretty much guaranteed to go down in poker history. Players like Doyle Brunson, Stu Ungar or Phill Hellmuth became famous especially because of these tournaments.

Set as the final tournament on the list, the $10,000 buy-in Main Event will run for 13 days, starting with July 5th, but once the final table is reached, the remaining nine players will take a break until November. They will meet again several months later, between the 6th and 9th of November, and play for their shot at the most famous bracelet of them all.

Tournament of Champions

Last year's WSOP bracelets

Besides the Main Event, WSOP has other special tourneys up its sleeve. For example, the Tournament of Champions (ToC), which will take place on the 27th of June. Unlike the other ones, you can't play in it unless you have a WSOP bracelet, and even that won't guarantee that you can get in. Think of it as an All-Star Tournament basically.

Only 27 players can join this special freeroll where $1,000,000 will be up for grabs. Three of those seats belong to previous ToC winners, while two other seats are reserved for last year's WSOP Main Event winners. Two other players chosen by WSOP will join the action, while the remaining 20 spots are decided by the public.

If you didn't vote yet, you just have to go to the WSOP Tournament of Champions page and select your favourite 20 players. The voting will close on June 15th.

The Poker Player's Championship

Another special event is the $50,000 event dubbed "The Poker Player's Championship", which is one of the ultimate tests for a poker player, as it features eight poker formats: Limit Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, Seven Card Razz, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, No Limit Hold'em, Pot Limit Omaha, 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball. Win this one and you're guaranteed a shot at poker stardom.

The Poker Player's Championship comes as a replacement to last year's $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship, which saw David Bach take down 94 players and grab the $1,276,806 first place prize.

...and more

On top of these, there will be nine events with a buy-in of $10,000 and they should also attract some of the big names to the tables. The full WSOP schedule for this year can be found on the WSOP page.

Join us tomorrow when we will have a look at some of the contenders to win this year's Main Event. Here are some pictures from last year's events - picture credit: WSOP.

The tournament area is packed	A final table being played out
The November Niners...	...and the Champions Invitational finalists
Rio All-Suites Casino and Hotel night view