Second Edition of $5,000 Seniors High Roller Kicks Off at Noon
Welcome back to PokerNews, the official media partner of the 2025 World Series of Poker and home of live updates from all bracelet events.
Today will see the kick-off of Event #40: $5,000 Seniors High Roller No-Limit Hold'em here at Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas, which gets underway at 12 p.m. local time with starting stacks of 50,000 and blinds of 100/200/200. Levels are 60-minutes long for the entire tournament.
Day 1 will consist of 10 levels, with 20-minute breaks every two levels and a 60-minute dinner break after Level 6, scheduled for approximately 6:40 p.m. Day 2 will begin at noon on Friday and play another 10 levels. Late registration remains open until the start of Level 13 on Day 2, about 2:15 p.m. Day 3 will play down to a winner.
This was a new event for the 2024 WSOP and returns once more. Last summer, Mark Checkwicz bested the 680-entry field for his maiden bracelet, after he defeated Arie Kliper in heads-up play. Alongside the piece of WSOP hardware, Checkwicz picked up the $573,876 first-place prize from the $3,128,000 prize pool.
“Listen, I'm gonna tell you exactly what it means. I promised my wife, she's a school teacher, she's been a school teacher for twenty-four and a half years, she's got nine more years to work. I promised her if I won this tournament, I would buy her a year more of retirement. She now has eight years more to work. It's awesome!”
But with his previous biggest cash coming ten years ago for $25,986, how did Checkwicz keep so cool under the bright lights?
“I'm telling you, I have a beautiful family. I truly do, to the core. These people love me, and I love them back, and I can't find a reason to be unhappy when I'm playing the game. It’s just so perfect. Poker is just so beautiful, and really, there has to be a winner and a loser, and I appreciate both sides of the equation. That's what makes it work.”
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Stay tuned to PokerNews for updates on this and all bracelet events at the 2025 WSOP!