WSOP Dates Announced as Horseshoe Name Hits the Vegas Strip
Thursday, December 15, 2022, will go down as a memorable day in Las Vegas history. It is the date the fabled Horseshoe name made its first appearance on the Las Vegas Strip. Benny Binion – the famed Texas gambling icon with a checkered past – opened the original Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas in 1951.
2005 was the last time the World Series of Poker main event final table was played in Binion’s Horseshoe. It was won by Australia’s Joe Hacham. ©GettyImages
The venue would become the preeminent spot for Vegas gamblers. From 1970 it was the home of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), and Binion’s Horseshoe had reportedly been the most profitable casino in Las Vegas during the 1980s.
Privately owned, the venue fell into financial trouble in 2004 and was sold to Harrah’s Entertainment. The new owner moved the World Series of Poker to the Rio Casino in 2005. However, the final few days of that year’s main event – eventually won by Australian Joe Hacham – was played at the fabled venue.
Out of the Ashes Comes the New Las Vegas Horseshoe
This week, Caesars Entertainment (formerly Harrah’s Entertainment) officially rebranded Bally’s Las Vegas as the Horseshoe Las Vegas. Bally’s originally opened as the MGM Grand in December 1973. A 26-story construction, its 2,100 rooms made it one of the world’s largest hotels.
But disaster struck seven years later when fire ravaged the MGM Grand and killed 85 people. By 1981 the MGM Grand had been rebuilt, and another 26-story tower was added to the venue. It gave the resort an additional 700 rooms and provided 68,375 square-foot of gaming floor space.
In 1986, Bally Manufacturing purchased the resort and renamed it Bally’s. A sister property, Paris Las Vegas, opened next to Bally’s in 1999. An outdoor shopping mall, the Grand Bazaar Shops, was added to Bally’s in 2015, and the resort, along with Paris Las Vegas, co-hosted the World Series of Poker in the summer of 2022.
Jack’s Back and Cooking up a Storm
Next year, for the first time since 2005, the World Series of Poker will be staged in a venue called ‘The Horseshoe’. And Caesars Entertainment has done plenty of work on Bally’s to ensure its transformation into Las Vegas Horseshoe romanticizes the original Binion version of the brand name and venue.
Within the restyled casino is a Jack Binion’s Steakhouse, and renovations have provided an updated poker room that is now called the World Series of Poker Hall of Fame Poker Room. It features 18 tables.
To coincide with the rebrand and renovations, Caesars Entertainment has also announced dates and details of some of 2023’s World Series of Poker events. The richest, most prestigious, and longest-running poker series will run from May 30 until July 18.
We are delighted to announce the @WSOP will return to the Las Vegas Strip at @ParisVegas, and the soon-to-be @HorseshoeVegas on May 30 – July 18, 2023. pic.twitter.com/uS1Jy5JFYi
— Caesars Entertainment (@CaesarsEnt) December 12, 2022
Give Thanks to the Main Event
The 2022 World Series Main Event attracted the second-largest field in the history of live poker. It generated a colossal $80,782,475 prize pool from 8,663 entrants. The 2023 version will once again feature four starting days – July 3, 4, 5, and 6 – and, thanks to the deep-stack nature of the event, players can also choose to buy in during either of the Day 2’s on July 7 or 8.
Weeks beforehand, an opening event is billed as ‘Mystery Millions’. It is a $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament featuring mystery bounties from $10,000 to $1 million for each knockout. There is also a traditional prize pool with a $1 million guaranteed first prize.
Last summer, the first mystery bounty event was a stunning success. It attracted 14,112 entries and a $1,000,000 bounty was won by poker-pro Matt Glantz. In total, the 2022 World Series attracted 197,626 entrants from more than 100 countries generating a record-breaking $347.9 million in prize pools.
Small Is Big at the Series
Other notable tournaments announced amongst the 2023 schedule include a $300 Gladiators of Poker. It will feature the smallest buy-in in World Series history but carries a massive $3 million guarantee.
June 21 is the date of the $1,000 entry Seniors Championship and the $1,000 Ladies Championship will begin on June 29. The $400 entry Colossus starts the following day. Fittingly, the Lucky 7s competition gets underway on July 7 with a $777 entry fee.
“The historic debut of the WSOP on the Las Vegas Strip delivered in a big way, and we’re excited to announce our Summer 2023 dates in time for the holidays,” said World Series of Poker Senior Vice President and Executive Director Ty Stewart when announcing outline details of the event.
“Poker players and fans can now officially mark their calendars and maybe even book their loved ones or themselves a trip to the WSOP as a holiday gift. We are glad to be back at Paris Las Vegas and the future Horseshoe Las Vegas for another exciting chapter in the tournament’s history,” Stewart concluded.
