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2008 World Series of Poker

The 39th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) event has been announced for May 30th, 2008.

It will run through to July 17th at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The Rio also hosted last year's event.

WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollack is quoted on the tournament's official website as saying: "The team is still hard at work on the schedule of events for next year, but we’ve received so many requests for the dates that we decided to announce them now."

The WSOP has grown a lot in recent years, with the main event - the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold 'Em (TXHE) tournament - going from 839 participants in 2003 to 8,773 in 2006.

Last year's TXHE was won by Jimmy Yang, who took home $8.25 million after outlasting 6,358 other contestants.

Because of the popularity of the event, vice-president of the Rio Geno Iafrate said that the tournament room will actually be opened around May 26th "for two special events".

"This 'soft opening' will give players a chance to register early and avoid the lines we had last year during opening weekend – our busiest time," he added.