World Poker Tour Announces Tournament Of Champions To Replace WPT Championship This YearTournament Changes Format And Location After Years Of Declining Turnout |
|
For many years the World Poker Tour Championship was a season-ending $25,000 buy-in event that attracted big fields and awarded huge payouts. At it’s peak Carlos Mortensen topped a field of 639 entries to win a massive $3,970,415 first-place prize. In recent years the event has seen a decline in turnout and as a result has gone through some changes, both in buy-in size and venue.
Today the WPT has announced the most dramatic shift in approach ever for their year-end event. For the first time ever the WPT Championship open event will be replaced with the WPT Tournament of Champions hosted at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL.
The new event will be open to entry for only Season XIV main event winners, who will automatically be entered, and WPT “Champions Club” members, who have won main events in prior seasons and will be able to buy in for $15,400. Whoever comes out on top of what will surely be a star-studded field will earn the title of “champion of champions” for the season. The televised event kicks off on April 21, immediately following the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown.
“By combining Season XIV winners and WPT Champions Club members, the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions will truly be a championship event,” said WPT President and CEO Adam Pliska. “We will promote the ‘champion of champions’ to our millions of television viewers and to the thousands of players in the community for seasons to come, solidifying the winner’s place in the World Poker Tour’s rich history.”
“The show that started it all continues to evolve after fourteen years, with the exciting new WPT Tournament of Champions,” said co-commentator and Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton. “I love that the WPT is going to a TOC format for the season-ending event – it will be the best of the best to determine the ultimate champion!”
The change to season-ending event was announced by the WPT along with the second half of the schedule for Season XIV, which can be found below:
| Dates | Event | Casino | Location | Buy-in + Entry |
| Jan. 4 – 8 | WPT National Philippines | Solaire Resort & Casino | Manila, Philippines | $1,500 + $150 |
| Jan. 8 -11 | WPTDeepStacks Hustler | Hustler Casino | Gardena, California | $1,000 + $100 |
| Jan. 14 – 18 | WPTDeepStacks Hollywood** | Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino | Hollywood, Florida | $1,000 + $100 |
| Jan. 29 – Feb. 1 | WPTDeepStacks Malta** | Dragonara Casino | St. Julian’s, Malta | €500 + €50 |
| Jan. 31 – Feb. 5 | WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open** | Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa | Atlantic City, NJ | $3,300 + $200 |
| Feb. 21 – 24 | WPT Fallsview Poker Classic*** | Fallsview Casino Resort | Ontario, Canada | CAD $4,700 + CAD $300 |
| Feb. 25 – 28 | bwin.be WPT National Brussels | Grand Casino Brussels | Viage, Belgium | €1,100 + €100 |
| Feb. 26 – 29 | WPTDeepStacks-BigStax** | Parx Casino | Bensalem, Pennsylvania | $1,500 + $100 |
| Feb. 27 – Mar. 3 | WPT L.A. Poker Classic* | Commerce Casino | Commerce, California | $9,600 + $400 |
| Mar. 7 – 11 | WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star* | Bay 101 Casino | San Jose, California | $7,150 + $350 |
| Mar. 8 – 13 | partypoker WPT Vienna | Montesino Vienna | Vienna, Austria | €3,000 + €300 |
| Mar. 12 – 16 | WPT Rolling Thunder** | Thunder Valley Casino Resort | Lincoln, California | $3,200 + $300 |
| April 8 – 11 | Gioco Digitale WPT National San Remo | Casino San Remo | San Remo, Italy | €900 + €90 |
| April 15 – 17 | WPT National Johannesburg | Emperors Palace Hotel Casino | Johannesburg, South Africa | R10,000 + R1,000 |
| April 14 – 20 | WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown** | Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino | Hollywood, Florida | $3,200 + $200 + $100 |
| April 21 – 23 | WPT Tournament of Champions* | Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino | Hollywood, Florida | $15,000 + $400**** |
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
