World Series of Poker releases 2011 schedule

Caesars Entertainment, owner of the WSOP brand, announced that the 42nd annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) Presented by Jack Link's Beef Jerky, will officially puts cards in the air on Tuesday, May 31, 2011.

The annual poker tournament series will run from May 31 - July 19 and will be televised exclusively on ESPN from the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The series offer participants a total of 58 gold bracelets events, one more than the previous year. The 2011 WSOP will kick off on Tuesday, May 31 at 5:00 PM, with a new event: a $25,000 Heads-Up No Limit Hold'em Championship open to a maximum of 256 players. The opening weekend (June 4-5), also features a $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em tournament, which includes two starting days on Saturday and Sunday at 12 noon. Day 2 for all surviving players will be played Monday, June 6.

Throughout the month of June, the weekends will remain focused on the "weekend warriors" with affordable buy-in No Limit Hold'em tournaments for WSOP gold bracelets at $1,500 on Saturdays and $1,000 on Sundays. July 2 and 3 weekend will feature the only other multi-day start $1,000 tournament and will close with one last No Limit Hold'em extravaganza on Tuesday, July 5 at 12 noon.

As usual, the 42nd annual World Series of Poker will close with the popular $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship, also known as The Main Event. The Main Event action begins play Thursday, July 7 and will reach its final table (nine players) on Tuesday, July 19, at which time play will be halted for its now traditional 3 month pause.

The 2011 WSOP Main Event will feature four starting days on July 7, July 8, July 9 and July 10, each day at 12 noon. The Main Event final table will run from November 5-7, and will be played before a live audience with special primetime coverage from ESPN on Tuesday, November 8, 2011.

With the exception of the Main Event, all gold bracelet tournaments will begin at 12 noon and 5 PM Pacific Time each day, with a maximum of 10-one hour levels being played for the noon starts. The 5 PM events will be comprised of a maximum of eight one-hour levels on Day 1. Day 1 play is expected to conclude at 12:45 AM for noon starts and 2:00 AM for the 5 PM starts. For those advancing past the first day, re-starts for noon bracelet events will be at 2:30 PM, and 5 PM tournaments will restart at 3 PM, with a maximum of 10 levels being played each day until a champion is crowned. The Main Event features two-hour levels, with play beginning at 12 noon each day.

Registration for all bracelet events will remain open through four levels of play – or until all available seats have been sold. This is twice as long as previous years. The only exception to this is the Main Event, which will remain open for it's customary two levels (or four hours of play).

Pre-registration for the 2011 WSOP will be available on-site at the Main Cage of the Rio in Las Vegas and online through WSOP.com beginning February 7, 2011.

2011 WSOP Schedule of Events:

Tue, May 31^st, 12:00 PM
Event #1: Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em, Buy In: $500 (2-Day Event)
Tue, May 31^st, 5:00 PM
Event #2: Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship (256 Max), Buy In: $25,000 (4-Day Event)
Wed, Jun 1^st, 12:00 PM
Event #3: Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Thu, Jun 2^nd, 12:00 PM
Event #4: No-Limit Hold’em, Buy In: $5,000 (3-Day Event)
Thu, Jun 2^nd, 5:00 PM
Event #5: Seven Card Stud, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Fri, Jun 3^rd, 12:00 PM
Event #6: Limit Hold'em, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Fri, Jun 3^rd, 5:00 PM
Event #7: Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship, Buy In: $10,000 (3-Day Event)
Sat, Jun 4^th, 12:00 PM
Event #8: No-Limit Hold'em, Buy In: $1000 (5-Day Event)
Sat, Jun 4^th, 5:00 PM
Event #9: 2-7 Draw Lowball (No-Limit), Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Mon, Jun 6^th, 12:00 PM
Event #10: No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Mon, Jun 6^th, 5:00 PM
Event #11: Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship, Buy In: $10,000 (3-Day Event)
Tue, Jun 7^th, 12:00 PM
Event #12: Triple Chance No-Limit Hold’em, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Wed, Jun 8^th, 12:00 PM
Event #13: No-Limit Hold'em Shootout (2,000 Max), Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Wed, Jun 8^th, 5:00 PM
Event #14: Limit Hold'em, Buy In: $3,000 (3-Day Event)
Thu, Jun 9^th, 12:00 PM
Event #15: Pot Limit Hold'em, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Thu, Jun 9^th, 5:00 PM
Event #16: 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship (No-Limit), Buy In: $10,000 (3-Day Event)
Fri, Jun 10^th, 12:00 PM
Event #17: H.O.R.S.E. Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Sat, Jun 11^th, 12:00 PM
Event #18: No-Limit Hold'em, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Sat, Jun 11^th, 5:00 PM
Event #19: Limit Hold'em / Six Handed, Buy In: $2,500 (3-Day Event)
Sun, Jun 12^th, 12:00 PM
Event #20: No-Limit Hold'em, Buy In: $1,000 (3-Day Event)
Sun, Jun 12^th, 5:00 PM
Event #21: Seven Card Stud Championship, Buy In: $10,000 (3-Day Event)
Mon, Jun 13^th, 12:00 PM
Event #22: Pot-Limit Omaha, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Mon, Jun 13^th, 5:00 PM
Event #23: Eight Game Mix, Buy In: $2,500 (3-Day Event)
Tue, Jun 14^th, 12:00 PM
Event #24: No-Limit Hold'em Shootout (2,000 Max), Buy In: $5,000 (3-Day Event)
Tue, Jun 14^th, 5:00 PM
Event #25: Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better, Buy in: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Wed, Jun 15^th, 12:00 PM
Event #26: No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed, Buy In: $2,500 (3-Day Event)
Wed, Jun 15^th, 5:00 PM
Event #27: Limit Hold'em Championship, Buy In: $10,000 (3-Day Event)
Thu, Jun 16^th, 12:00 PM
Event #28: No-Limit Hold’em, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Thu, Jun 16^th, 5:00 PM
Event #29: 10-Game Mix / Six Handed, Buy In: $2,500 (3-Day Event)
Fri, Jun 17^th, 12:00 PM
Event #30: Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship, Buy In: $1,000 (3-Day Event)
Fri, Jun 17^th, 5:00 PM
Event #31: Pot-Limit Omaha, Buy In: $3,000 (3-Day Event)
Sat, Jun 18^th, 12:00 PM
Event #32: No-Limit Hold'em, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Sat, Jun 18^th, 5:00 PM
Event #33: Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship, Buy In: $10,000 (3-Day Event) Sun, Jun 19^th, 12:00 PM
Event #34: No-Limit Hold’em, Buy In: $1,000 (3-Day Event)
Mon, Jun 20^th, 12:00 PM
Event #35: Pot-Limit Omaha / Six Handed, Buy In: $5,000 (3-Day Event)
Tue, Jun 21^st, 12:00 PM
Event #36: No-Limit Hold’em, Buy In: $2,500 (3-Day Event)
Tue, Jun 21^st, 5:00 PM
Event #37: H.O.R.S.E. Championship, Buy In: $10,000 (3-Day Event)
Wed, Jun 22^nd, 12:00 PM
Event #38: No-Limit Hold’em, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Wed, Jun 22^nd, 5:00 PM
Event #39: Pot-Limit Hold'em/Omaha, Buy In: $2,500 (3-Day Event)
Thu, Jun 23^rd, 12:00 PM
Event #40: No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed, Buy In: $5,000 (3-Day Event)
Fri, Jun 24^th, 12:00 PM
Event #41: Limit Hold’em Shootout, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Fri, Jun 24^th, 5:00 PM
Event #42: Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, Buy In: $10,000 (3-Day Event)
Sat, Jun 25^th, 12:00 PM
Event #43: No-Limit Hold’em, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Sat, Jun 25^th, 5:00 PM
Event #44: Seven Card Razz, Buy In: $2,500 (3-Day Event)
Sun, Jun 26^th, 12:00 PM
Event #45: No-Limit Hold’em, Buy In: $1,000 (3-Day Event)
Mon, Jun 27^th, 12:00 PM
Event #46: No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed Championship, Buy In: $10,000 (3-Day Event)
Mon, Jun 27^th, 5:00 PM
Event #47: Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better, Buy In: $2,500 (3-Day Event)
Tue, Jun 28^th, 12:00 PM
Event #48: No-Limit Hold’em, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Tue, Jun 28^th, 5:00 PM
Event #49: 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit), Buy In: $2,500 (3-Day Event)
Wed, Jun 29^th, 5:00 PM
Event #50: Triple Chance No-Limit Hold’em, Buy In: $5,000 (3-Day Event)
Thu, Jun 30^th, 12:00 PM
Event #51: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Thu, Jun 30^th, 5:00 PM
Event #52: Mixed Hold'em (Limit/No-Limit), Buy In: $2,500 (3-Day Event)
Fri, Jul 1^st, 12:00 PM
Event #53: Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship, Buy In: $1,000 (3-Day Event)
Sat, Jul 2^nd, 12:00 PM
Event #54: No-Limit Hold’em, Buy In: $1,000 (5-Day Event)
Sat, Jul 2^nd, 5:00 PM
Event #55: The Poker Player's Championship, Buy In: $50,000 (5-Day Event)
Tue, Jul 5^th, 12:00 PM
Event #56: No-Limit Hold’em, Buy In: $1,500 (3-Day Event)
Tue, Jul 5^th, 5:00 PM
Event #57: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better, Buy In: $5,000 (3-Day Event)
Thu, Jul 7^th, 12:00 PM
Event #58: No-Limit Hold'em Championship, Buy In: $10,000 (13-Day Event)