Organisers have announced that the 2008 World Series of Poker will – for the first time ever – begin and end with ,000 buy-in World Championship events and feature a total of eight ,000 championships.

In addition, the 55-event schedule for 2008 includes a total of eight ,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournaments, which traditionally draw the largest fields except for the Main Event. The WSOP has also added a second start day for the first of the ,500 no-limit competitions to accommodate the expected number of entrants.

“This is our most exciting schedule yet,” said Jeffrey Pollack, commissioner of the WSOP.