The bulk of the World Series of Poker festivities ended a little over a month and a half ago. And we also can’t forget that the WSOP Main Event final table still has yet to play out from November 7th to November 10th. But Harrah’s Entertainment and the WSOP organizers have already begun announcing changes for their 2010 event.
The main change that was announced was that there will no longer be a $40,000 buy-in tournament to kick things off. The $40k event was held mainly due to the fact that it was the 40th anniversary of the WSOP, and the tournament was very popular among certain pros – especially Vitaly Lunkin who won the event.
But as WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky explained, it doesn’t make sense to have the event next year. His exact words were, “The $40K was a good event. It was a successful event. But it made sense because it was the 40th-annual World Series of Poker. That buy-in amount or that event doesn’t really fit when you’re not in your 40th year.”
Another event which will not be back in 2010 is the Champions Invitiational which was won by Tom McEvoy. The initial Champions Invitational was merely part of the 40th anniversary celebration as evidenced by what Palansky said during the 2009 WSOP when he stated, “We had no intention of putting this on the schedule as a tester to see if it makes sense doing long-term.”
Seth Palansky did mention that both events could be back in the future though when he said, “Both events will probably come back 10 years from now, when we’re celebrating 50 years. We announced them and intended them as one-off specials.”
So it definitely appears as though both events could be back one day, though it will be quite some time before that day happens.
