We're over two weeks into the World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, and it's been an eventful two weeks.
Isaac Haxton won his first bracelet, Josh Arieh won his fifth, and Shaun Deeb won his sixth; along with many others claiming hardware.
Outside of the venue walls and down the strip, the Vegas Golden Knights won their first-ever Stanley Cup, finishing off the flailing Florida Panthers in a 9-3 rout at home. That's going to be important for your weekend plans if you're in Vegas.
The $1,500 Monster Stack details
Each weekend at the WSOP features a big-draw event, and this weekend is no exception. The $1,500 Monster Stack features a deep starting stack, long levels, and a likely massive prize pool. It also only carries a 10% rake.
Unlike some other events, you can't fire multiple bullets each day in this one. You can fire one bullet on Friday's Flight A, and if you're eliminated, one more bullet on Saturday's Flight B. That's it.
I mentioned the structure, and this is one of the best you'll find this year at this price point. Players get 50,000 starting chips and 60-minute levels to put that stack to use. With hour-long levels, players just need to survive ten levels each day.
Days 2 and 3 are scheduled for Sunday and Monday, respectively. Tuesday, June 20th, the remaining players will battle for the bracelet.
Last year, Mike Jukich took this one down and won $966,577 for doing so. With the turnouts so far this year, I'd be surprised if first place didn't take home over $1 million.
Which day to play and parade details
If you're prepared to fire two bullets to try to find a cash, you'll need to play on Friday to do so. Even though you can fire two total bullets, you're only allowed to enter once each day. If you wait until Saturday, you'll only have one shot.
Another important factor is something that will be happening on the strip on Saturday evening.
The Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup this week. So, this Saturday evening, the strip will play host to their exciting victory parade. However, both sides of the strip will be closed Saturday night, which will make getting in and out of the WSOP venue extremely difficult, maybe impossible if you're driving.
The parade is slated for 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm local time. We're told that both sides of the strip will be closed during those hours, but I anticipate it will be at least some time on both sides of that. Keep that in mind when planning how you'll get to (and leave) the venue.
Team owner Bill Foley provided the below parade route:
- Vehicles will be loaded at the Excalibur.
- They will drive up Frank Sinatra Dr.
- The parade officially begins heading south on Flamingo Rd. and Las Vegas Blvd.
- It continues south to Tropicana
- It takes a U-turn at Tropicana to Park Ave.
- It ends at Toshiba Plaza at approximately 9 pm
Whether you're coming to Vegas this weekend or you're already here, it should be a fun one. My recommendation? Play the Monster Stack on Friday, find a bag (easy), and then enjoy the parade Saturday evening on the strip.
Best of luck to all those navigating both the Monster Stack fields and the Vegas streets this weekend.
