How to Qualify Online for the WSOP Main Event
Winning entry to the Main Event at the WSOP has never been easier.
There are options for both US and International players, and plenty of ‘fish’ taking their shot to boost the prize pools (and increase your chances of winning a $10k ticket). You don't need a big poker bankroll to take a shot. Online satellite qualifiers to the WSOP start at just $1. These are 'Steps', you win your way through the levels and eventually to a satellite with guaranteed seats.
WSOP qualifiers are already running - I expect the offshore sites welcoming US players to have their World Series satellites up and running soon.
This page covers the best qualifiers currently running. I will update as more sites add their ‘Road to Las Vegas’ schedules over the coming months.
Note that entries come in the form of 'packages'. You get the $10k for entry, plus hotel and cash for flights and expenses. A $12,500 package is typical.
$12,500 WSOP Main Event Satellites at GG Poker
GG Poker are first out of the gate for online WSOP qualifiers.
This is the international site – US players are better off waiting for America’s Cardroom (who always offer mega-satellites and soft games).
Back to GG. The prize on offer is $10k for the Main Event, 7 nights in Las Vegas plus $1,200 for flights. This is worth $12,500 total.
There are three levels of direct satellite qualifier, with guaranteed seats. Each has a sub-qualifiers known as ‘Steps’ where you can win tickets if you don’t want to buy-in direct.
- $1k Road to Vegas: This has $108 sub-qualifiers
- $525 Road to Vegas: $55 sub-qualifiers
- $250 Road to Vegas: Qualifiers go through $1 and $25 stages
Value WSOP Qualifiers?
Last time around there were overlays at the start – making the qualifiers excellent value. The levels then got adjusted, taking away most of the overlays.
The best value was at the start – before WSOP qualifiers were on the radar of too many players.
GGPoker have one other option. You can build up a stash of ‘Tournament Dollars’ (T$) and use them to enter one of the bigger buy-in WSOP satellites direct.
There are excellent welcome bonuses at GG, and the software / setup attracts plenty of recreational players.
Head over to GGPoker now at www.ggpoker.com and see why this is the fastest growing site of the past two years!
WSOP Satellites at America’s Cardroom Poker
America’s Cardroom on the Winning Poker Network are open to both US and International players. Their 2022 Main Event packages are worth $12,500. That is $10k for your buy-in and $2.5k for travel and expenses.
The satellites are running now, and you can qualify for free (or buy-in direct). This is a repeat of last years hugely successful ‘WSOP TAKEDOWN’ format. There are 20 guaranteed packages between them. The cost is not prohibitive, one at $109 and the other at $215. There are five packages on May 8th and 16th, with ten packages awarded on the 23rd.
To fill up these tournaments, there are a series of qualifiers starting at $1.10c going up to $22. These guarantee seats at the next level. If you plan one at quiet times, you might find an overlay of one or more seats in the TAKEDOWN games…
The dates for the Main Event qualifiers are:
- May 8th WSOP TAKEDOWN: $109 – 5x $12,500 Packages Gtd
- May 15th WSOP TAKEDOWN: $109 – 5x $12,500 Packages Gtd
- May 22nd WSOP TAKEDOWN: $215 - 10x $12,500 Packages Gtd
I’m excited about these games. ACR tournaments have a big proportion of recreational players from all around the world.
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One other thing to look out for at ACR Poker is the bomb pots – a lot of fun and (with the right approach) profitable too.
WSOP Schedule Highlights
This section covers the schedule for the event. I split it between higher and lower buy-in tournaments. Under this you will find a list of previous Main Event champions, they link to individual player profiles in my 'WSOP Legends' series. If you do win a package after reading this page, I'd love to hear about it.
The WSOP Main Event
Of course, the big media coverage kicks in when the Main Event begins. This is the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament which crowns the world champion each year. This used to be at the end of a packed schedule of tournaments. These days there are a full two weeks of games after the Main Event.
There are 4 ‘Day 1’ flights, starting on the 3rd of July 2022 through to Wednesday the 6th. The remaining players then go into two separate ‘Day 2’ flights. From Day 3 the field is combined. The field gets narrowed to a final table, no wait for the 'November 9' these days - thankfully that idea has been binned.
High Roller Events at the World Series of Poker
There are two WSOP’s – one for the greats of the game (and rich people) and one for the rest of us. I have collected a selection of the biggest buy-in games below. They have giant buy-ins, and equally giant prize pools.
You never know, run deep in a $1000 event early, and you will be taking a shot against the legends of the game on a televised final table!
$100,000 High Roller Bounty No Limit Hold’em (May 31st)
This is a new event for 2022, right at the start of the WSOP. It offers the chance to play a bounty tournament for incredible prizes. Each player starts with 600,000 chips and levels each last for 40 minutes. $25,000 of the buy-in is allocated to the bounty part of the tournament. Simply knock another player out and you receive an immediate $25k windfall. The tournament is set to last for 3 days and being event 2 in the series, it will kick off the World Series of Poker for many of the big names.
$25,000 No Limit Hold’em Heads Up (June 2nd)
This event is limited to just 64 players who will battle it out head-to-head knockout style until just one player is left standing. On day one, the 64 players are whittled down to just 16 and day two sees the 16 become just four. Day three is when the bracelet winner is decided, as both the semi-finals and the final take place. The defending champion heading into the 2022 event will be Jason Koon.
$25,000 High Roller No Limit Hold’em 8 Handed (June 4th)
This 3-day event sees players start with a chip stack of 150,000 and each level lasts for 60 minutes. This big money event sees the winner usually receive just shy of a million dollars and was won by Tyler Cornell last year. Later in the series you will find a $100k NL Hold’em high-roller event, plus a $50k PLO event.
$10,000 WSOP Championship Events in Different Poker Formats
Throughout the World Series of Poker there are a series of $10,000 Championship events encompassing all forms of poker (one such tournament is the highlight ‘Main Event’ that will is covered in greater depth below).
Included in this list are the ‘Dealers Choice 6 Handed Championship’, ‘Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship’, ‘Seven Card Stud Championship’, ‘Limit Hold’em Championship’, ‘Lowball 2-7 Triple Draw Championship, ‘H.O.R.S.E Championship’, as well as short-stacked, freezeout, turbo championships and many more. The winner of any of these events can rightly make the claim that they are the ‘champions’ of their chosen poker discipline.
$250,000 Super High Limit No-Limit Hold’em (June 23rd)
With a quarter of a million buy-in, you will not see many recreational players sat at the tables for this event! This 3-day event sees players start with 1.5 million chips and levels of 60 minutes. Just 33 players entered the event in 2021 and it was won by Spaniard Adrián Mateos. He pocketed more than $3.2 million in the process.
$50,000 6 Handed Poker Players Championship (June 26th)
While many look to the winner of the Main Event as the big winner of the year, there is a train of thought that the winner of the Players Championship is the true champion of the series. The format of the tournament has changed throughout the years, with H.O.R.S.E, an 8-game version, and a 10-game version. Since 2016 the tournament has settled with an 8-game format, although this has been increased to the following 9 in 2022:
No Limit Hold’em, Seven Card Stud, Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, Razz, Pot-Limit Omaha, Limit Hold’em, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better, No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw and 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw.
To win this event a player must demonstrate mastery over all the listed poker disciplines, leading the winner to be proclaimed as the player with the best all-round talent at poker.
$10,000 Main Event No Limit Hold’em World Championship (Jul 3rd)
This is the event that poker players from all over the world strive to win and to be named as poker’s ‘World Champion.’ The list of previous winners is an illustrious one, including Johnny Moss, Stu Ungar, Doyle Brunson, Scotty Nguyen, Johnny Chan, Chris Ferguson, Chris Moneymaker, and Joe Hachem.
The event has a $10,000 buy-in, with many players qualifying through online satellites. Each player sits down with 60,000 chips and every level lasts for 2 hours. Day one is split into four flights, and this is reduced to two flights for day two. On day three all the remaining field will come together and whittle the field down to the final nine by the end of day 7. After a day off, those final nine will battle it out over two days to be named the main event winner.
Korey Aldemir is the defending champion, pocketing $8 million last time round. He will be looking to become only the fifth player in the history of the event to successfully defend his title (Moss, Brunson, Ungar and Chan are the others).
Lower Buy-in WSOP Events
While many of the headlines might be written about the events with high buy-ins, more than 50% of the events at the World Series of Poker have a buy-in of $1,500 or less.
These many lower buy-in events open the door for many more poker players to get their hands on a WSOP bracelet. Expect big fields. I recommend registering early to avoid long waits in line on the day.
Here is a look at some of the more popular lower buy-in events that you can enter without the need to put a large dent into your life savings:
$500 Housewarming No-Limit Hold’em (4 Flights)
This $500 event has multiple flights, starting on June 2nd. These are different to ‘days’, because each daily flight plays into the money. The winners are then combined and will fight for a massive $5,000,000 prize pool – plus a WSOP bracelet. You can enter as many flights as you wish, though only one stack of chips can be taken forward.
$600 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack (June 6th)
This is an event for those who enjoy starting a tournament with a deep stack of chips in front of them. Deep stacks mean more skill is required post-flop - making the tournament more of a tactical affair.
In this event, each player starts with 30,000 chips and each level plays out for 30 minutes. Play lasts for 22 levels on day one and then plays to a finish on day two. More than 4,500 players signed up last year and the winner walked away with more than $250,000, as well as that precious bracelet.
$1,500 Millionaire Maker (June 17th)
Of all the lower buy-in events in the WSOP, this might be the most exciting of all. As the name implies, the lucky winner of this event will become an instant millionaire.
The starting chip count in this event is 25,000 chips and each level lasts for an hour. The first day’s play takes place over two flights, before all the remaining players come back to compete against each other on days 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Last year the winner of the event was Daniel Lazrus. This was his second WSOP bracelet, but his first was won when the event was moved online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The event attracts fields in the region of 5,000 players and there are some giant prizes for those coming close with all but one at the final table earning a six-figure paycheck.
$1,500 Monster Stack No Limit Hold’em (June 10th)
If the deep stack is not enough for you, you can go one better and enter the ‘Monster Stack’ tournament. This bracelet side event has a pile of 50,000 chips to start. This is a four-day event, although like the Millionaire Maker, the first flight is split over two days. Each level last for an hour and each of the four days sees 10 or 11 levels played.
This event can attract in the region of 2,500 players and the winner last time took home more than $600,000.
$500 Freezeout No Limit Hold’em (June 20th)
The low buy-in for this event makes it one of the most accessible and popular ways of winning a WSOP event. This event is played over just two days and has levels that last 30 minutes (starting stack sizes are 25,000 chips. You can expect around 3,000 players to enter this low buy-in event and the winner will be rewarded with a first prize in the region of $170,000 and the title of a WSOP bracelet winner.
$1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold’em Championship (June 22nd)
This is one of the most popular events at the series, attracting a field of more than 5,000 players in 2021. This five-day event sees the players start with 25,000 and play one-hour levels throughout the event.
Only players over the age of 50 can enter the event and it almost makes for a ‘legends’ event in the series. Big money can be won, with defending champion Robert McMillan pocketing $550,000 for his successful run.
$400 Colossus No Limit Hold’em (Starts 24th June)
This is the most accessible event in the WSOP with a buy-in of just $400. While the buy-in is low, it can be one of the toughest to win, as it does attract a huge field size, usually around 10,000 players. Each player starts with a stack of 40,000 chips and each player takes 40 minutes. With the oversized field, day one is once again split into two flights.
The event takes place over 3 days – 17 levels on day one, 15 levels on day two and play to the end on day three. The winning player at the end of those 72 hours will receive a check $300,000 or more.
The buy-in for this event has dropped in recent years, with the buy-in being $565 in 2018. This lowering of the buy-in made the tournament even more accessible. If, like most of us, you are on a budget and you do want to play in the World Series of Poker, this and many of the events listed above, might be the ideal route in.
Honorable Mentions: Lower Buy-in WSOP Events
It is only possible to scratch the surface without writing a book on the lower buy-in WSOP events. There are dealer’s choice games, HORSE, Omaha, and stud games small buy-in tournaments. Structure changes including bounty games and turbo events are also featured.
Plenty of $2.5 to $5k events are running too. If you have the bankroll, the smaller fields than the sub-$1k events make these more manageable in terms of time.
Getting to Las Vegas for International Players
Travel has opened up since the last WSOP. That said, at the time of writing a negative test is still required. I recommend you check the latest advice on the US CDC website. There are different rules for citizens and non-citizens. Here is hoping that the test requirements are dropped before the WSOP starts!
So, what are you waiting for?
If you are in the USA, then America’s Cardroom is the place to qualify. Remember referral code SNGPLANET to get the best possible welcome bonus over at www.americascardroom.eu
International players can also qualify at ACR, though I’m recommending a different site. GGPoker is huge, soft and is giving away packages for the Main Event every single day. You will get $100 in tokens and buy-ins for a minimum deposit, check out www.ggpoker.com now!
See you in the Main Event!
More on Poker Events (Live and Online) + Popular Pages:
- Online Poker Events (regularly updated page for the latest online tournament events)
- Satellite Qualifiers Main (links to strategy + live events)
- Poker Deposit Methods
- WSOP Winners: Greg Merson