WSOP 2024 Schedule Adds Variety for Omaha-Lovers—Bomb Pots, Mystery Bounty, and Big O Championship

Photo by Shutterstock/Elina Manninen

Last week, the World Series of Poker released the full schedule for its 2024 summer series in Las Vegas. Once again, the series will be back at its latest home, the Horseshoe and Paris Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. The number of events for the series has increased to 99 from last year’s 95, and the new additions focus heavily on Omaha and its variants.

The live series will run from May 28 to July 17, 2024. In all likelihood, an online bracelet series will run alongside it on WSOP.com, as has been the case in previous years. However, since 2020—when the live series was canceled due to COVID-19—the live and online series have been treated separately rather than combined into a single schedule. WSOP has not yet announced any details for the 2024 summer online bracelet series.

Omaha and its sub-variants have gained popularity over the past 15 years since the online poker wave crested. Last year’s WSOP schedule included 28 events that featured Omaha in some form. This year’s ups the total by three to 31 events that include Omaha.

The ratio of pure Omaha events has gone up even more dramatically. This year, there are 17 events purely dedicated to Omaha and 14 mixed events that include some Omaha. Last year, it was more common to find Omaha as part of a rotation that included other games. The 28 events with Omaha on the 2023 schedule broke down as 15 that were partially Omaha and only 13 that were entirely Omaha.

There’s also now a lot more variety within the Omaha genre. Let’s take a look at what’s new.

Big O Gets a Championship

Events with a $10,000 buy-in hold special meaning at the WSOP. That has always been the price tag for the No-Limit Hold’em World Championship, colloquially known as the Main Event. Over the years, equivalent (but smaller) events have been added for other games and formats, with that price tag and the “Championship” moniker typically going hand-in-hand.

Part of the conversation around the yearly WSOP schedule is which games are popular enough to warrant their own Championship. Now, “Big O” appears to have enough steam behind it to make the cut. Event #27 on June 13 is the $10,000 Big O Championship.

For those unfamiliar, “Big O” is simply Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, with the twist that players receive five cards in the hole rather than four. The extra card makes for a looser game, as it’s much easier to have a hand that plays both ways and draws can have an insane number of outs.

An Omaha Mystery Bounty

Mystery Bounty events have swept the live poker world over the last couple of years. The No-Limit Hold’em Mystery Millions event was a crown jewel of the 2023 series, so unsurprisingly, it and the $10,000 Mystery Bounty event are both back.

This year, however, Omaha players get to participate in the fun. Event #86 on July 9 is a new feature this year: a $1,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha tournament with the chance at a potentially huge bounty each time a player is eliminated.

Double Board Bomb Pot Insanity

Omaha is popular among cash game players because of its propensity to generate huge pots. To kick things up further, some poker rooms have introduced the concept of “bomb pots.”

Bomb pots feature a large ante and no preflop action. Effectively, they work out the same as if the under-the-gun player made a raise and everyone else at the table called to see the flop.

In keeping with the maximalist theme, many rooms also use bomb pots in double-board Omaha. In that game, each street’s community cards are dealt twice, forming two boards. It’s a split pot game like hi-lo, except that it’s the winning hand for each board that claims the corresponding half of the pot.

Again, this is typically a cash game concept, but WSOP’s giving it a whirl as a tournament format. They’ve also made it a mixed game, alternating between No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha for even more chaos.

Event #41: $1,500 Mixed NLH/PLO Double Board Bomb Pot runs on June 15. It’s the sort of experiment that could either disappear next year or become a permanent feature of the schedule depending on player response.

WSOP 2024 Schedule—Omaha Events

For the convenience of Omaha-focused players, we’re providing this year’s schedule broken down into three parts: pure Omaha events, partially-Omaha events, and non-Omaha events.

WSOP 2024 Schedule—Mixed Events Including Omaha

These events are mixed game events that include both Omaha and non-Omaha variants.

WSOP 2024 Schedule—Non-Omaha Events

Here’s the rest of the schedule for two-card purists and those who don’t like flop games.