Special to the Pahrump Valley Times

LAS VEGAS — The 42nd World Series of Poker Main Event starts Thursday, with players having four different days to start their journey to fame and fortune this year as well as having chances to earn a seat without having to pay the $10,000 entry fee.

The Day 1 flights are set for noon PDT Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino.

Players — the over-under is 8,000 — can choose any of the four start days to begin. Playing on Thursday or Saturday means if someone makes through to Day Two, they would return on Monday, July 11 as part of Day 2-A. Those who start on Friday or Sunday will resume on Day 2-B which is slated for Tuesday.

Satellites for the Main Event have been a staple of the world’s biggest poker event for decades. And this year, given record participation in bracelet events and the shuttering of online U.S. poker rooms, the WSOP will have the most comprehensive series of qualifying tournaments in its history.

Through July 10, players seeking to participate in the world’s richest sporting event will have non-stop opportunities to qualify on the cheap.

Today, the only new tournaments on the schedule will be satellites, with hundreds of tables available for play. $550 Mega Satellites will kick-off at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. with a $1060 Mega Satellite at 1 p.m. and a $2080 Mega at 8 p.m.

The action does not slow down July 7-9th while some players begin their Main Event flights. The same Mega Satellite schedule will be available as on July 6, with $550 Megas at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., $1060 at 1 p.m. and $2080 at 8 p.m. Single table satellites will be available as well and on July 10th, there will be a special “last-chance” turbo satellite for $1,060 at 8 a.m.

Of course, single-table satellites are offered daily 24 hours a day, seven days a week for as little as $100.

NOTES — Marsha Wolek, from Sarasota, Fla., won the women’s championship, outlasting 1,054 rivals, including runnerup Karina Jett, to pocket the $192,344 first-place prize money, out of pool of $949,500 … The $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship, an eight-game mix, attracted 128 players … As of Tuesday, 45 were left, with Josh Arieh the chip leader at $1,819,000 … Phil Hellmuth, an 11-bracelet winner, was still in the hunt with $1,174,000 … Hellmuth has two second-place finishes in 2011 WSOP tournaments … The prize pool is $6,144,000, with the winner expected to earn more than $1.7 million; only 16 will cash … The biggest winner’s payoff thus far has been the $1,158,481 that went to Joe Ebanks in the $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold-em 6-handed tournament … He is from Stow, Ohio … The WSOP Media-Celebrity tournament is July 13 at 4 p.m.; Don McDermott of the Pahrump Valley Times is among the entries.