Caesars Entertainment Corporation, owner and operator of the World Series of Poker, has announced the dates for the 2011 WSOP tournament series running from May 31st to  July 19th, 2011.

Once again, the 2011 series will be open to any player over the age of 21 and will continue to be held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The 2011 World Series of Poker main event will kick off on July 7 and will feature four starting days running until July 10th. The Main Event will close the annual series, with its conclusion scheduled for July 19th after the final table is set. The final table will resume action four months later when the “November Nine” return to the Rio All Suite to determine the Main Event winner.

One of the most significant changes announced for the 2011 WSOP is the introduction of hard stop times rule for all bracelet events. Players will play a maximum of ten levels per day. Once ten levels have been completed, remaining players will have their chips bagged and tagged and return the next day to continue on in the tournament. Regardless of how many players remain in a tournament, hard stop times will be enforced after ten levels of play.

The entire 42nd Annual World Series of Poker schedule, with individual tournaments, dates, times and buy-ins will be released in January.