Today marks a very exciting day for all poker players and fans around the world as The 52nd annual World Series of Poker returns to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino as the opening day for the nearly two-month poker tournament extravaganza featuring 88 bracelet events.

Starting at 6 p.m. local time, a new event will take to the felt with Event #3: $1,000 COVID-19 Relief No-Limit Hold'em (unlimited re-entry). As much of the poker world was disrupted over the past 18 months thanks to the global pandemic, focus will be on those who sacrificed and worked the most as 10% of the buy-in ($100) will be withheld and donated to charitable organizations that benefit frontline health workers.

A $1,000 buy in will give each entry a 20,000 chip starting stack. This tournament will feature a turbo style format, with levels being a very rapid 20 minutes in length. Re-entry and late registration is open for the first 12 levels, which will be until approximately 10:30 p.m. local time. There will be a 15-minute break every 6 levels.

The plan is to play down until only five players remain, where they will then stop for the night and return at 4 p.m. on Friday to play down to the bracelet winner.