The best pre-flop hand in Texas Hold’em in a pair of aces. (preflop means players have cards in their hands, but no community or common cards have been dealt yet). You need to know that a flush beats a straight, a full house beats a straight, and that a straight flush is usually ‘the nuts’, and that a ROYAL FLUSH beats everything!

• WORLD SERIES OF POKER® TEXAS HOLD 'EM™ INSTANT GAME RULES 1. For each table, scratch to reveal YOUR 2 CARDS, THEIR 2 CARDS and the five COMMUNITY CARDS.
• The following are the official World Series of Poker Tournament Directors Association rules. Must be at least 21 to participate in or watch an event. 1) The $10,000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship Event will be limited to 200 tables. All other events will be limited to 100 tables.
• Entry into the World Series of Poker® (herein “WSOP” or “Tournament” refers to designated poker events at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino from May 30, 2017 through July 23, 2017) is limited to persons 21 years of age and older, with proof of age, that Rio, acting in its sole and absolute discretion, deems appropriate.
• This format has decided No Limit Hold'em World Champion since 1972. In 1970, the participants voted on who they thought was the most accomplished player, and in 1971 the buy-in was $5,000.

Table Of Contents

This weekend, the 2020 World Series of Poker Main Event kicks off on GGPoker, as the first flight of a live-online hybrid that looks set to crown the Main Event champion for 2020.

Wsop Texas Holdem Tournament Rules

This unorthodox Main Event will begin across both WSOP.com and GGPoker, culminating in not only two live final tables, but a final heads-up battle in Las Vegas on December 30th.

Much has been made of this 'second' Main Event of the year, coming only a few months after the successful series of WSOP Online Bracelet Events.

Here PokerNews takes a look at two competing views and asks what it means for poker.

'There Must be a World Champion in 2020'

When the WSOP Main Event was announced, it was WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart who said: 'There must be a World Champion in 2020.'

In the WSOP's eyes, this new $10,000 freezeout will be the 2020 Main Event, irrespective of the online series that preceded it.

This format has decided No Limit Hold'em World Champion since 1972. In 1970, the participants voted on who they thought was the most accomplished player, and in 1971 the buy-in was $5,000.

The $5,000 WSOP Online Main Event was undoubtedly a huge success story, setting a Guinness World Record for largest online poker tournament prize pool, but Stewart maintains that the traditional Main Event format is still important.

'Poker’s history is too important,' he said. '[The hybrid format] is a unique format for the Main Event, but this is a unique year.'

Related: WSOP Main Event at GGPoker Shatters Guinness World Records Title

Madanzhiev: 'I am World Champion'

Wsop Texas Holdem Rules

However, the winner of the $5,000 WSOP Online Main Event Stoyan Madanzhiev has expressed confusion at the decision to host another Main Event.

Madanzhiev spoke exclusively with PokerNews and expressed his bemusement at the announcement, reiterating that in his eyes he was the 2020 WSOP Main Event champion.

'I won it,' he said matter-of-factly. 'I received a certificate. It says that I'm the 51st annual World Series of Poker Main Event champion. So this means I'm the Main Event champion. I mean, what else does it mean if it's not that?

'I am the champion of 2020. They said it.'

The certificate he is referring to is one that he has widely paraded on social media. Madanzhiev uses this as his main piece of evidence that he is the Main Event champion of 2020.

just setting up my twttr

— jack (@jack)

Signed by former WSOP APAC Main Event champion and GGPoker Ambassador Daniel Negreanu, the certificate states: 'Congratulations on winning WSOP Event #77: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event of the 51st Annual World Series of Poker hosted by GGPoker.'

This is something Madanzhiev calls 'confusing.'

'Everybody started calling me the world champion. It was confusing. [The WSOP] made it look like that with the way they presented the tournament, with the way they gave me the certificate. And I started believing that I am the reigning world champion of 2020. I still think that is correct.'

Texas Holdem Poker Free

So What Does This Mean?

Whether or not you think another WSOP Main Event is a good idea is up for debate.

On the one hand, the WSOP Online Main Event will always hold a special place in WSOP history, whereas others will insist that a $10,000 freezeout will always be needed to crown a Main Event champion.

Wsop Texas Holdem Poker

However, two things are certain as we approach the end of this crazy year. Stoyan Madanzhiev will always be remembered as the first WSOP Online Main Event champion, and that the poker community will have some WSOP action to end the year.