The Colossus event has flights on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday which anyone can enter for $565 a flight.
The World Series of Poker Colossus Event began on Saturday at the Rio Convention Center in Paradise, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas. The Colossus Event is the first major poker event in the 49th World Series of Poker, which opened last Tuesday.
Thousands of players flock to the WSOP Colossus Event each year, because it offers a guaranteed $1 million in earnings for the 1st place winner. The Rio Convention center is part of the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, which is owned by Caesars Entertainment.
Since 2005, the Rio has been the site of the 6-week World Series of Poker. In the past few years, the Colossus Event has become one of the main attractions at the WSOP, a series of poker events which includes a wide variety of poker varients, entry fees, and player fields.
Last year, the World Series of Poker consisted of 72 events and welcomed nearly 121,000 individuals entrants. This year, WSOP officials expect to see an even bigger field, as they have planned 78 total events.
2018 World Series of Poker: 78 Events
The 2018 World Series of Poker stretches from late-May to mid-July and culminates in the WSOP Main Event, which is the most prestigious and profitable event anywhere in the world all year.
Isaac Hansen, a spokesman for the World Series of Poker, said of the tournament, “It’s the biggest, most prestigious (poker tournament) in the world.”
In the early stages of the WSOP schedule, the Colossus Event grabs a lot of attention. Seth Palansky, the WSOP’s VP of Corporate Communications, said that the Colossus is a dream event for casual players. They pay roughly 5% of what it costs to enter the WSOP Main Event, but have a chance to win poker fame and a $1 million prize.
Global Cardplayers Flock to WSOP
Players flock to the Rio All-Suite Hotel to attend the WSOP from around the world. Cody Sylva, a 30-year old poker player from New Zealand, flew 7,500 miles to play in the Colossus. Sylva said the WSOP’s legendary reputation is one reason he plays, but he also enjoys playing in an event with world-famous poker professionals.
Mike Hengemuhle, who’s played in the World Series of Poker the past 4 years, said the allure of playing against the best is what draws him to the event.
Last year, Hengemuhle sat at the table with Mihn Nguyen, a 2-time WSOP bracelet winner. Hengemuhle quipped, “I can’t afford to play in the cash games they play.”
WSOP: Poker Event of a Lifetime
While some come back year after year, other amateur card players treat the World Series of Poker as a once-in-a-lifetime poker pilgrimage. Rodney Collins, a first-time WSOP entrant from Los Angeles, sounded like he might be such a player.
Using winnings he collected from an L.A. tournament, Collins entered the Colossus Event. He said, “Anyone who’s anyone wants to play in the World Series of Poker.”
2018 WSOP Colossus Event: Saturday Results
Even professional cardplayers will say that winning a big WSOP event like the Colossus takes some luck, even if it takes incredible skill and endurance, as well. The sheer number of players means that a few big hands have to fall right for the eventually winner.
For Rodney Collins, luck did not go his way on Saturday. He plans to buy in to the Sunday stage of the $565-buy-in Colossus Event. One advantage the Colossus has over the WSOP Main Event is it has re-buy rules. The cards did not go his way on Saturday, but Collins said, “Somebody here’s gonna be lucky.”
July 11 Update of WSOP Colossus
As of July 11, 1,104 players remain alive in the 2018 WSOP Colossus Event. Andrea Buonocore leads the chip count with 209,900 chips. Thanh Nguyen is in second place with 199,500 chips, while Artan Dedusha sits in third place with 191,600 chips.
A variety of notable poker pros remain in the competition. Taylor Black (129,500 chips) is well above the 100,000-chip mark, while Georgios Vrakas (96,600 chips) has about half the chips that those at the top of the leaderboard have. Marc Macdonnell (75,500 chips) and Bart Hanson (74,400 chips) each have substantial chip stacks, while Rainer Kempe (49,500 chips) has enough chips that he could be right in the mix if he doubled-up on June 11.
Ryan Laplante (33,000 chips), Aaron Massey (28,400 chips), and Allen Kessler (25,500 chips) all are on the low end of the chip count at the moment. Maria Lampropulos (12,000 chips) is hanging on towards the bottom of the chip count.
2018 World Series of Poker Main Event
The WSOP Main Event takes place a little earlier than usual in 2018. The Main Event begins on July 2, while it ends on July 14. Flights take place on July 2, July 3, and July 4. ESPN and PokerGO plan live coverage, just like last year. Also like last year, no November Nine takes place. The WSOP Main Event Final Table will take place in July 2018, so we’ll have an overall winner by mid-July.
