2021 World Series of Poker Still Very Much Up in the Air

Published on October 19th, 2020 9:59 am EST

One of the current favorite topics of conversation in the poker world right now is the 2021 World Series of Poker, and whether or not it will take place in Las Vegas.

The 2020 World Series of Poker was originally postponed with the intention of it taking place in the fall. We are currently in mid-October and nothing has been said, so you can safely rule out the 2020 World Series of Poker taking place this year.

The status of the 2021 World Series of Poker is a much more intriguing topic.

There is no doubt that a massive online WSOP series will take place again in 2021. The WSOP.com/GGPoker series was a big success, and there is no doubt that it will run again in 2021.

The series in Las Vegas, however, is a different story entirely.

Optimists will point to the fact that there is poker taking place in Las Vegas right now. With the proper precautions in place, they say, the World Series of Poker could likely push ahead.

Pessimists, on the other hand, point to the fact that the World Series of Poker draws heavily from international markets. What are the odds that players from countries like Germany, Brazil, South Korea, etc. will be able to/want to travel to Las Vegas for a major poker series in 2021?

Will the World Series of Poker want to host a significantly smaller tournament series in Las Vegas? How much would that hurt their brand if there was only a very small turnout compared to previous years?

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In reality, the World Series of Poker is only likely to return to "normal" (large crowd, international players from practically every country in the world) when there is a COVID-19 vaccine and people have been inoculated.

How long will it take us to get to that point? A year? Two years? Who knows. Until that happens, however, don't expect the World Series of Poker to go on as it has in previous years. Expect, perhaps, a significantly scaled down version, mainly open to US players, accompanied by a large online series.

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Filed Under: The World Series of Poker