Live Poker Tournament Adjustments since Black FridayThe World Series of Poker Stands Pat and Announces Increased Television Coverage while the Onyx Cup is Cancelled |
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Black Friday has affected every aspect of the poker industry since Friday, April 14. Online sites have pulled out of the United States, television shows have been canceled, and everyone wonders what will happen next.
Live poker tournaments continue to be offered and the major tours move forward into the new world that has been created. Many tours are standing pat or staying mum about future plans, while others have been vocal about their plans to continue forward as planned. One tour has been canceled and more could be canceled or reduced in the future.
Player attendance has dipped from the previous year at a few events; while a major new live tournament market staged its first big buy-in tournament. Read on below to see what the tours are up to and how they have fared since Black Friday, starting with the biggest piece of news:
Onyx Cup Canceled:
The Onyx Cup, which was going to be sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, has been cancelled. The series was set to feature six high-roller tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $100,000 to $300,000. The first tournament was set to take place in Las Vegas May 11-12, with events in Europe and Asia to follow.
World Series of Poker:
Current Season: 42nd Annual +WSOP_ Begins on May 31
Last Event: 2010 WSOP $10,000 main event – 7,319 players
Next Event: 2011 WSOP $25,000 heads-up no-limit hold’em championship – May 31-June 3
The World Series of Poker will continue as planned with 58 bracelet events running from May 31 to July 19. “The reality is that the event’s schedule is set and will offer 58 gold bracelet events and there will be non-stop satellites and cash games,” said Seth Palansky, Communications Director for the WSOP. Read more about the 2011 WSOP here.
The WSOP also announced that they will feature increased television coverage for the 42nd annual version of the event, which will be hosted at the Rio Hotel and Casino. The WSOP has announced that for six consecutive days, July 14-19, ESPN will offer unprecedented access to the 2011 WSOP main event, including live unedited hole cards on a 30-minute delay. There will be more than 34 additional hours of coverage in high definition on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3.com.
“For the first time viewers at home will have the best seats in the house for the World Series of Poker, poker’s premier event. Fans will see hole cards post-flop and get an inside look at all of the strategy, angst and competition of the world’s best players vying for a seat at the most prestigious final table in the sport,” said Matthew Volk, ESPN manager of programming and acquisitions. Read more about the increased 2011 WSOP television coverage here.
WSOP Circuit:
Current Season: 2010-2011
Last Event: WSOP Circuit Caesars Las Vegas $1,500 main event – 496 players
Next Event: WSOP Circuit Chester, PA $1,500 main event – May 8-10
The World Series of Poker Circuit 2010-2011 continues towards the first-ever WSOP Circuit National Championship that will be hosted at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas from May 27-29. The fourth of four WSOP Circuit $10,000 Regional Championship events will take place before then at the Harrah’s in New Orleans, LA from May 19-22. No announcement has been made concerning schedule for the 2011-2012 WSOP Circuit season at this time.
European Poker Tour:
Current Season: 7
Last Event: EPT San Remo €5,300 main event – 987 players
Next Event: EPT Madrid Grand Final €10,600 main event – May 7-12
The best initial test for how live tournament poker will fare in the post-Black Friday era was the European Poker Tour San Remo main event that took place on the Italian Riviera last week. Here is a look at the comparable attendance numbers year-over-year:
2011 EPT San Remo: 987 players – 4 percent U.S. Players (286 online qualifiers)
2010 EPT San Remo: 1,240 players – 8 percent U.S. Players (381 online qualifiers)
Overall attendance, U.S. player attendance, and the number of online qualifiers were down from last year, but the sky is not falling considering the prize pool was nearly €5 million. Next up for the EPT is the Grand Final in Madrid which begins on Saturday. The Grand Final attracted 848 players last year so the size of the field will be watched closely this weekend. An early comparison was provided by the high roller event, which attracted 113 players in 2010 and mustered a field of 58 players in Madrid. No plans for Season 8 of the EPT have been announced at this time.
World Poker Tour:
Current Season: IX
Last Event: WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown $10,000 main event – 433 players
Next Event: WPT World Championship $25,000 main event – May 14-20
The World Poker Tour is preparing for their marquee event of the season, the WPT World Championship $25,000 no-limit hold’em main event that is scheduled to take place May 14-20 at Bellagio in Las Vegas. The tour is coming off of an energetic first-ever Florida event, the Seminole Hard Rock Showdown that took place in Hollywood, FL from April 27-May 2 and attracted 433 players.
The schedule for Season X has yet to be announced, recent events will have very little impact on the WPT. The show will continue to air on Fox Sports Net uninterrupted. There may be additions or changes to Season X that are independent of recent events. The WPT has announced one main event for the Season X schedule, a second Florida event that will take place in Jacksonville in the Spring of 2012. Read more about the WPT’s future plans in Florida here.
Other PokerStars-sponsored Tours:
Previously filmed television episodes for the North American Poker Tour have been pulled off the air and no future announcements have been made regarding the schedule or existence of Season 3. The final main event on the schedule for Season 2 took place at the Mohegan Sun just before Black Friday. Vanessa Selbst successfully defended her title by topping a field of 387 players to win $450,000.
The other international events in addition to the EPT under the PokerStars umbrella continue forward as planned:
Latin American Poker Tour:
Current Season: 4
Last Event: LAPT Lima $2,500 main event – 350 players
Next Event: LAPT Rosario $2,500 main event – June 1-5
Asia Pacific Poker Tour:
Season 4 Concluded
Last Event: APPT Sydney $6,300 AUD main event — 289 players
Next Event: Season 5 Schedule Pending Announcement
Australia New Zealand Poker Tour:
Season 3
Last Event: ANZPT Sydney $2,200 AUD main event — 393 players
Next Event: ANZPT Gold Coast $2,500 AUD main event – May 17-22
Italian Poker Tour:
Season 2 Concluded
Last Event: IPT Grand Final was EPT San Remo €5,300 main event – 987 players
Next Event: Season 3 begins IPT Malta €2,200 main event – May 26-30
U.K. and Ireland Poker Tour:
Season 2
Last Event: UKIPT Manchester, England £550 main event – 615 players
Next Event: UKIPT Cork, Ireland €560 main event – May 19-22
Heartland Poker Tour:
Current Season: 7
Last Event: HPT Gary, Indiana $1,650 main event — 270 players
Next Event: HPT Mt. Pleasant, Michigan $1,650 main event – May 14-15
The Heartland Poker Tour is finishing up its slate of pre-WSOP Season 7 events. The tour will take a break during the WSOP and there are eight tournaments scheduled during the late Summer and Fall of 2011.
The upcoming Nevada State Poker Championship at the Peppermill Casino in Reno, Nevada will feature a $1,650 HPT main event from May 22-23. The annual Jennifer Harman Poker Throwdown charity tournament benefiting the Nevada SPCA will run at the tournament series on May 21.
Here is an official statement from Todd Anderson from the HPT:
“Although recent changes in the poker landscape are affecting televised poker programming, these changes will not affect the HPT. The Heartland Poker Tour has never relied upon on-line poker sponsorship as a revenue source. We will continue to tour the country filming high-quality poker programming at our partner casinos, some of whom are contracted through 2015. In addition to the events currently on our schedule of 2011, we are actively seeking new casino partners to accommodate the demand for more live poker events.”
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