I don’t know but just read this in an article about event #62:

“The PokerNews DeepStack Championship will take place in a new and vibrant location near the Horseshoe poker room. Organizers are committed to creating an immersive experience that goes beyond the felt, elevating the overall atmosphere for players.”

I stayed at Horseshoe last year and am trying to picture where this might be but can’t really think of anywhere. Unless there was another room that was closed off or something and they plan on opening it.

Yeah, I'm trying to think of what's over there. It's just Nosh, the Ditta Von Teese theater, and some slot machines.

I suppose they could use the theater space for poker, which might jive with the "immersive experience" element.

Simplest answer might be stripping away some slot machines and using the new floor space for poker tables.

There’s an escalator to the right of Nosh and before the former Jubilee Horseshoe tower - soon to be the Versailles tower for Paris I think.

Perhaps up there is where those ballrooms are. I’m staying at Horsehoe right now and when I get back over there later today I’ll take those escalators up to see what’s up there.

Well if there are ballrooms tucked away over there then that's the betting favorite by far.

Existing poker room is in the lower left of this image for those that have never been there.

What day would the Monster Stack wrap up?

In the past it has always been labelled a 5 day event but actually wraps up on day 4.

Last year after two day 1 flights day 2 started on the Sunday and a winner was crowned on the Tuesday (day 4).

Should we assume that with a third day 1 flight and day 2 starting on Monday that this will be over on Wednesday (day 4)? Or could the bigger field potentially push this to a 5th day on Thursday?

That’s where the jubilee ballroom is. At least that’s what they used to call it. It has been at least 7 years and my memory is a little foggy, but I can’t say I remember there being space for 100 tables. More like 50. But again, I could easily be wrong.

“Immersive experience” sounds interesting. If they are going to create some special setup there, I suppose it is not going to be relegated to daily deepstacks.

Too lazy to go back and actually check, but I'm going to say 3 + 1 + 1 + 1 and then maybe another day for the final table.

Three day 1s will play down to the top 25% or so. Money bubble pops mid day 2, which will actually be day 4 of the event. Play down to about 100-150 players that day. Day 5 should bring them down to maybe the final 25 or so. Then another day or two to wrap it up. 6-7 days total sounds about right. It's a long/slow event, and you have to add on another day this year for day 1C (you can also assume a record field size IMO, further slowing the proceedings).

Someone tell me the play here? Paris?

I don't know what kind of upgrades they have done to any of those rooms the last several years, depending on how upgraded either Horeshoe or Paris would be nice for convenience. Probably Caesars would be nicer but not as close.

Depends on what is most important to you. If it’s convenience on breaks or just ease of access to the cages and facilities, then HS or Paris, for sure.

I assume Paris is a bit nicer than HS, but I’v never stayed at the former, so I can’t speak to the differences in rooms.

If you’re looking for a more upscale stay, then Caesar’s, Nobu or Cromwell are fairly close. But certainly not as convenient as being right there.

It’s also worth going into each one to see what rooms are available for free. Sometimes only the base level, sometimes upgraded rooms.

Nah. Last year I made it several hours into day 3 and I finished 223rd so there were plenty more than that at the end of day 2. The starting field was well over 8000. I would expect it to be over 12,000 this year.

I don’t think adding a starting day will increase the field size by 50%, but I guess we’ll see.

Anyhow congrats on your deep run last year. Looking over the results, though, it represents a troubling trend at the WSOP (IMO) of making long events even longer. It diminishes the ROI on time invested. I realize for those coming out to play one event, it doesn’t really matter. But for those at the series for a long time, it makes it an even bigger grind.

I mean, just think of your result. You played ~24 hours of poker, not including breaks, finished top 2.5% and got 5x your buyin, assuming you were on 1 bullet.

I just wonder if events like this need to be “bigger and better”? Would anyone really complain if it were a solid three day event instead of a marathon 5 day event?

I understand the optics of having bigger fields, but I wonder if this is actually a good business decision for the WSOP in terms of profitability. The longer the event, the more it costs. And the more starting days you have, the more people there will be playing elsewhere on some of them, or not playing at all.

Anyone agree with the following? I think some tournaments have way too many days. Like I want to play the monster stack- it’s a what 4-5 day tourny? Why not knock off a day.

Idk I’ve played some solid $400 tournies with big fields that finished in 2 days and the structure improved a lot on day 2. Idk I like the structure etc but idk why they can’t make a tourny that finishes in 3 days. Why not just extend day 1 and 2 and maybe make the dinner break not super long. 20 min breaks and a 75 min dinner break just seems like overkill if you ask me.

Example- I think the Venetian deep stack events with best structures are ideal. You have 2-3 starting days and finish on day 2 even though the structure is amazing. Idk I’m in vegas to fire many bullets and being stuck in a tournament where I might not final table is lols. Finish 27 for some buyins- but wasted a day or two of not firing other tournaments. Maybe I’m crazy but I would rather they start structure off kinda quicker and then progress is through the days. Maybe make day 1 40min levels, day 2 hours, day 3+ 80-90 min levels? Idk I’m more fan of having long levels when tourny matters and just get rid of your dead money early when levels are shorter

60 minute levels are part of what makes the Monster Stack unique compared with your typical garden variety Wynn or Venetian $1k.

I like that aspect of the tournament, but I don't like the third starting flight. It turns an already huge/slow event into an even bigger/slower one.

I was going to play the Milly Maker this year, but with the changes to the schedule, I've decided to skip the huge weekend lotteries.

With top-heavy payouts, I just don't think it makes a lot of sense to fight through a 15,000 person field.

The prospect of a good return on your investment is slim.

Monster and Milly have consistently had fields of 7-8K. You think a third day 1 flight will double the total field?

Absolutely agree with all of this, though I will still play the MM since it isn't quite as crazy as the MS.

Boosting these fields artificially with extra flights will entice those who only care about what first place is. But I think players, even recs, are a lot more savvy nowadays than they were 10-15 years ago. Players have played a lot of events over the years and I think they recognize that super top heavy prizepolols and dragged-out structures are a painful experience to the vast majority of participants, whether you are a rec or play for profit.

To me, the perfect tournament structure is somewhere in the range of 40K chips, 40 min blinds (without skipping levels, of course). You get plenty of play early and throughout day 1 where most of the field participates. And the thing doesn't drag on forever. I understand why some prefer 60 min blinds, but it just gets to be a slog. And yes, all sorts of tournaments do exist and there are options. I just wish the WSOP would revisit their structures. I don't mean gut them so they are turbos (people often suggest that speeding up an event automatically turns it into a turbo). I mean providing a good structure that doesn't require dedicating multiple days to maybe eek out a tiny profit.

And if I had my way, the payout structures would reflect meaningful milestones with meaningful sums. Cashing a tournament is hard to do. It should come with a meaningful reward, like at least 3x, if not as high as 5x in these mega-field re-entry events. Making a final table is also a big milestone, so 9th place should be significantly more than 10th place. And yes, winning an event should come with a significant prize. But you don't have to give 10% of such a massive prizepool to one luckbox. Poker is a game of skill, but winning any individual tournament is almost entirely luck.

All of this can be achieved by a less top-heavy prizepool and a more linear approach between min-cash and final table. I think these sorts of changes would make playing these events significantly more enjoyable, and economical for the vast majority of players. And that, in turn, would be good for the poker economy.

Milly got 10.4k entries last year, so I think they can get close to 15k with another starting flight.

https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=908971

12-15k is my guess for Milly Maker and Monster Stack.

Double? Are you bad at Math? If you add 50% more day 1's you get 50% more entries, not 100%. Though I don't think they'll get even 50% more, probably closer to 35% more.

Dogface estimated 15K this year which is double the historic fields of around 7500. Are you bad at math?

I mean I agree with dogface here but I feel a structure can be great without 1hr levels with a ton of meaningless play early (kinda). The 3rd day is a big deal to me and kinda annoying but hey more players = more fun players I guess.

I guess my big thing is- i wish they could say knock a 4 day tourny down to a 3 day tourny and just have longer days. Goofy as it is- even if they let you have a 2-3 hour night break on a day 3 when most of field is gone to maybe extend the day would be cool. Maybe have play 10-6pm, break 6-9 for dinner/ rest and then continue to 2-3 am and then have a final table or final 2-3 tables on final day and maybe a noon restart.

Monster stack does have a great structure and I’m a fan of better structures obviously. I guess I just think what Venetian runs is an insane structure and a tad quicker so one can play more tournies when in vegas.

I like Venetian for multi-days, but keep in mind they aren't navigating fields with 5-10k players.

Logistical challenges of the WSOP are unique since the field sizes are uniquely massive.

Wynn WPT stuff was huge this December and was also very slow, likely for similar reasons.

There's no quick way to resolve a tournament with 10k entries unless you want to embrace a turbo type of format.

WPT prime Championship didn’t need to go to 60 minute levels on day 2. It caused all sorts of logistical issues, especially with how big the day 2 field was and how flat the payouts were.

I am not completely opposed to lengthening levels as the tourney goes on. But 1 hour should really be limited to like 1% of the field at most.