The Kevmath Report - Issue #1

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Like you, I’m counting down the days until the 2021 WSOP, just over five weeks away. I’m looking forward to running the WSOP Twitter account for the fifth time. There are plenty of details we don’t know right now for events happening over the 7+ weeks of the current schedule at the Rio in Las Vegas. Will players need to wear masks? Will you have to prove you’ve been vaccinated in order to participate? Do you need to provide a negative COVID test to participate? What happens if you get sick?

Many poker industry experts were predicting record fields, including 10,000 in the $10,000 WSOP Main Event as players were champing at the bit to play poker, with huge fields in areas that poker has returned like Florida, Texas, and Las Vegas. However, the Delta variant has dampened expectations with many players concerned about being part of a possible ‘superspreader’ event. Others are reluctant to travel and some are unable to travel to Vegas, especially from Europe. Throw in the cancellations of WPT events at bestbet Jacksonville and Maryland LIVE! and it creates a lot of concern about the upcoming WSOP schedule.

With that said, it looks nearly certain the WSOP will happen on the scheduled dates (September 30 - November 23) unless conditions get so bad there’s no choice but to postpone or cancel the live edition for a second year. If that doesn’t happen, there’s always the chance of a few roadblocks along the way. Besides the issues with COVID-19, will Caesars find enough dealers wanting to work at the Rio? They’re guaranteeing $15 a down (30 minutes) to entice them to work. A reduced number of available dealers could also mean caps on the field sizes of bracelet events and the reduction or removal of available cash games, satellites, daily deepstacks, and other events.

All I can suggest is to stay tuned for further developments.

The WSOP is 38 Days Away

The 2021 World Series of Poker begins Thursday, September 30. If you’re thinking about playing an event or two this year, you should check out the complete WSOP Schedule and familiarize yourself with the WSOP Rules.

You can also make life easy for yourself before you even leave the house. Online registration recently opened. If you haven’t done so in previous years, you’ll need to create a Bravo Poker Live account to pay for events with a credit card, wire transfer, cashier's check, and new in 2021, your checking account..

Create a Bravo Poker Live account here.

While you’re dreaming of hitting a big score at the WSOP this year, you can figure out exactly how much you’re going to win in any of the 88 bracelet events or the Daily Deep Stacks (see you there!) using the official WSOP payouts calculator.

What I’m Watching This Week

Phil Hellmuth tries to keep his undefeated streak going on Wednesday as he faces Tom Dwan in Round 2 of High Stakes Duel III on PokerGO at 8 pm ET. Ali Nejad and Nick Schulman will be on the commentary.

Get hyped with The Hype Show on Tuesday at 8 pm ET as Ali Nejad and Maria Ho breaks down the $200,000 match. That's followed by The Weigh-In on Wednesday at 7:30 pm ET.

If you like your poker to consist of more than two players at a table, the Super High Roller Bowl is underway from the Merit Hotel in North Cyprus. You’ll have to get up at 7 am ET to watch the FREE final table coverage at PokerGO.com or the Merit Poker YouTube channel.

King’s and Rings

The WSOP International Circuit is in full swing in the Czech Republic, with 15 Ring events highlighted this week by the €250 Mini Main Event, offering a €500,000 guaranteed prize pool. 

Check out the full event schedule and watch the live streaming on the King’s Poker Room Twitch channel.

RunGood Heads to Florida

The RunGood Poker Series All-Stars Comeback Tour continues this week at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek in Florida. Action is already underway with the Main Event slated to begin Friday, August 27. The $600 buy-in Main Event has two starting flights (Friday/Saturday) and a $50,000 guarantee.

View the full schedule.

Wynn Signature Series

The Wynn Las Vegas is hosting the Wynn Signature Series from August 26 - September 12. There are 15 events on the schedule including a $400 buy-in event with a $100,000 guarantee and two starting flights (August 30 & 31), a $600 buy-in event with a $150,000 guarantee, and two starting flights (September 7 & 8), and a $1,100 buy-in event with a $500,000 guarantee and three starting flights (September 2-4).

Check out the entire schedule.

Buckle Up: Brad Owen’s Latest Vlog Not for the Faint of Heart

Brad Owen heads to the Bellagio to play the highest cash game stakes of his life and takes the viewers on quite the ride. Enjoy!

Live Poker in Massachusetts Update

While some parts of the US have opened up their poker rooms, Massachusetts is a notable exception. Last week, MGM Springfield announced their plans to reopen its poker room, at a reduced capacity in the fourth quarter later this year.

Read: MGM Springfield set to bring back poker by the end of the year

Remembering Layne Flack

After the sudden passing of Layne Flack in July, a lot of his fans and fellow players shared their memories of the poker legend. While not everybody was able to attend the recent celebration of life held for Flack in Las Vegas, his good friend Rick Fuller wrote a piece that will make you feel like you were there.

Read: The Memorial

Classic Video: Stay Out Of the Shot

The 2011 edition of the WSOP was my first full summer in Vegas and it wasn’t really going all that well for me. The summer experience humbled me and made me realize that doing reporting wasn’t really my strong suit. By the time the Main Event happened, I was looking forward to heading home. As I was working for BLUFF Magazine one of the key things my boss, Lance Bradley, drilled into the staff was to not be in the way of the ESPN/Poker Productions cameras. As you’ll see below, that didn’t work out too well as you’ll see me in the first segment of the first episode of the Main Event with Brad Garrett.

Trivia

Among the players who have won at least two World Series of Poker bracelets, what is the difference in letters between the player with the longest first and last name and the shortest first and last name? (For reference purposes, the spelling on The Hendon Mob page is my source). EDIT: You can find other answers if you go to WSOP.com

The first five subscribers to Tweet the correct answer at me get a shoutout in next week’s Kevmath Report. GO!