The Venetian Resort and Casino in Las Vegas has scheduled its popular summer DeepStack Championship Series for a late May start. That's perhaps a bit of a surprise to some in the poker community, given the World Series of Poker likely won't be running at the same time.
Each year, other than 2020 due to COVID-19, numerous Las Vegas poker rooms host a summer series that coincides with the WSOP. They compete with the WSOP for business in some aspects, but most events are lower stakes.
This coming summer, it's unlikely there will be a WSOP, at least not a live version. Rumors have been swirling around the poker community that Caesars plans to host its annual poker extravaganza in the fall but nothing has been confirmed.
Even without the crowd the WSOP brings to Las Vegas, it appears some casinos are ready to go forward with a major summer series. Or, at least one casino is.
The Venetian indirectly announced they will run the popular DeepStack Poker Championship series for the first time since 2019, via a tweet calling for dealers to apply to work during the series.
Specific dates, schedules, tournaments, and structures haven't been released yet. But the social media account confirmed the series will run from late May until the middle of July. That's the same timeframe the series has held in previous years. Tommy LaRosa, Venetian's tournament director, was asked by a Twitter user when the schedule will be released.
"I am hoping to have an advance copy available next week for people through email," LaRosa responded.
At this point, we know there will be a DeepStack Championship Series in the summer, and the approximate timeframe. But we don't yet know how much of an impact not having a WSOP in town will have on the turnout for the series.
The World Series of Poker is the main attraction in town that lures in poker players each summer. Many other events such as the DeepStack Championship Series and events at Wynn, Aria, Planet Hollywood, and Golden Nugget benefit from the increased traffic the WSOP brings in.
Mid-major poker series
Venetian's summer event typically has over 75 tournaments, with buy-ins ranging from $200 to $5,000. The series draws players from all over the world, and from all walks of life. It's a popular event for low and mid-stakes grinders, but even some high-stakes pros will hop into the mix in some of the events.
Venetian also attracts some players to the DeepStack series who don't enjoy competing in World Series of Poker tournaments. The lure of chasing gold bracelets isn't appealing to everyone.
Wynn, Golden Nugget, and the other casinos that also host annual summer events have yet to announce summer plans. Given that Venetian is going forward with its series, it's a solid bet some or all of those card rooms will hop on board.
Hotbed for poker
Las Vegas is the top spot for poker around the world any time of year, but especially during the summer. Thousands of poker players descend on the desert city for six weeks of sun, fun, and hopefully life-changing money. Or, at the very least, enough profit to justify the trip.
Last summer was quite a strange time in Sin City. Although most casinos reopened in June, as did numerous poker rooms, it just wasn't the same. Only a fraction of the normal poker tourists came to town during the summer of 2020.
The WSOP Online Bracelet Series on WSOP.com helped bring some poker players to town, but far fewer than normal. And the players who did come to Las Vegas specifically to compete in bracelet events spent most of their time in their hotel rooms playing online, as it was an online series.
Featured image source: Twitter
