It’s time for the World Series of Poker.  There’s always a reason to want to go to Vegas, but for poker players, making the trek during the WSOP is almost mandatory.  For the handsomely bankrolled, it’s something that’s not to be missed any year.  But what if you’re just a regular dude(ette) who loves the game, wants to take in the experience, but can’t afford even the $1,000 buy-ins required for the cheapest events?

For starters, you can try satelliting into WSOP events (single table satellites and mega-satellites beginning on May 27 at the Rio, not to mention on countless online poker rooms).  From May 27-July 2 the Rio will host $330 mega-satellites at 3pm with $550 megas at 9pm.  From July 3-7 there will be $550 megas at 10am and 4om, $1060 megas at 1pm and $2080 megas at  9pm. There are a number of other, higher buy-in satties as well, and more information can be gathered here.

What if you want to ignore the actual WSOP events altogether?  There are plenty of options, with many casinos hosting their own deep stack tournament series.  Plus, you also don’t want to forget that it’s just as fun to play the penny slots and drink bottom shelf vodka for free all night.  Who’s with me?

The Caesars Palace Megastack tournament series begins on May 26 and concludes with a main event on July 11-15.  There is a single tournament scheduled for each day with buy-ins ranging from $225-$550, with the main event costing $1,060.  You can find more information at the Caesars Palace website.

The Venetian will continue to put on their popular Deep Stack Extravaganza.  Things kick off on May 28 with a $340 event and conclude with a $5,000 main event on July 12.  New tournaments begin daily, with some days having two events.  The tournaments aren’t as super-deep stacked as you might hope, but they’re some of the better deep events going on at that time. You can look into the series right here.

The Golden Nugget plans on hosting its third annual Grand Poker Series from June 5-July 4.  Most days will feature a NLHE tournament as well as one in another variety.  The cheapest buy-ins are set at $125, with the main event costing $1,080 to enter. Curious for more information?  Click here to find it.

Finally, Binion’s Poker Classic starts on May 27 (the casino employees have a tournament on the 26^th). Buy-ins range from $150 for the cheapest events to $1,000 for the main event on June 30.  A complete schedule can be found here.

If you do well in any of those tournaments, you might want to consider heading over to the Bellagio for the Bellagio Cup VI.  Getting started on June 25, the series concludes with a $10,300 main event on July 11 (save for a 1k rebuy on the 13^th).  Entry to most of the tournaments will run you $1,080. You can see the schedule here.

Plan on making it to any of these tournaments?  Know of others?  If so, head over to our forums and let us know.  I hope to play a few Golden Nugget events and perhaps one or two at the Venetian.