2016 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Festival Kicks Off TodayHome Of New WPT Tournament of Champions Will Host Several Massive Events Over The Coming Weeks |
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A new-look World Poker Tour season-ending event is making it’s debut at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida as part of the massive 2016 SHR Poker Showdown tournament festival which kicks off on Thursday, Mar. 21 with the first of 31 tournaments slated over the 25-day schedule.
For many years the WPT 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. Recently the event has seen a decline in turnout and as a result has gone through some changes, both in buy-in size and venue.
Last fall the WPT announced that for the first time ever the WPT Championship open event will be replaced with the WPT Tournament of Champions, which would allow entry for only Season XIV main event winners, who would automatically be entered, as well as WPT “Champions Club” members, who have won main events in prior seasons and will be able to buy in for $15,000.
“For the first time the WPT Championship will crown a definitive champion from among previous WPT winners,” said WPT President and CEO Adam Pliska.
The event is sure to feature a tough field, which led plenty of players to question why they would opt to pit themselves against the best of the best. The answer to that might just be that the event features several forms of added value. The WPT recently announced that the event, which will be rake free, will also feature $100,000 added to the prizepool by sponsors. The winner will also take home a Hublot watch, a solid gold MasterCard from Aurae, a pair of gold Monster 24K Headphones, a custom premium poker table from BBO Poker Tables, a seat in Tiger’s Poker Night Presented by World Poker Tour and a round of golf at Shadow Creek Golf Course with Matt Savage and two friends.
“It is our goal to elevate the WPT Tournament of Champions, creating an extraordinary season-ending event to celebrate the members of the WPT Champions Club and the rich legacy of the World Poker Tour,” said Pliska. “With a significant overlay of cash and prizes the WPT has immediately increased the value of being a WPT Champions Club member, and we will crown two more winners prior to the WPT Tournament of Champions during the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown festival.”
The WPT Tournament of Champions is far from the only major event set to go down at this exciting festival, though. Other massive tournaments on the schedule include the $3,500 buy-in, $2 million guaranteed Showdown Championship event, the $10,000 buy-in, $2 million guaranteed WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale and a $1 million guaranteed $25,500 no-limit high roller.
According to the SHR’s poker blog the Championship and Finale final tables will be streamed Apr. 20 and 21 while the Tournament of Champions will be live streamed on Apr. 24 in addition to being filmed for TV broadcast.
Here is a look at the complete SHE Poker Showdown schedule:
| Event | Date | No. of Days | Buy-In |
| $350 No-Limit Hold’em $500K GTD* | 3/31/16 | 4 | $350 |
| $250 Omaha 8/OB | 4/1/16 | 1 | $250 |
| $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Six Max $75K GTD | 4/3/16 | 1 | $1,100 |
| $250 No-Limit Hold’em $25K GTD | 4/3/16 | 1 | $250 |
| $150 No-Limit Hold’em $150K GTD* | 4/4/16 | 3 | $150 |
| $350 No-Limit Hold’em Bounty $30K GTD | 4/4/16 | 1 | $350 |
| $250 No-Limit Hold’em Ladies | 4/6/16 | 1 | $250 |
| $350 No-Limit Hold’em Six Max $30K GTD | 4/6/16 | 1 | $350 |
| $250 No-Limit Hold’em Seniors | 4/7/16 | 1 | $250 |
| $570 No-Limit Hold’em $1 Million GTD* | 4/7/16 | 4 | $570 |
| $1,650 No-Limit Hold’em Bounty $100K GTD | 4/10/16 | 1 | $1,650 |
| $350 No-Limit Hold’em $50K GTD | 4/10/16 | 1 | $350 |
| $570 No-Limit Hold’em Bounty $50K GTD | 4/11/16 | 1 | $570 |
| $570 No-Limit Hold’em Six Max $50K GTD | 4/12/16 | 1 | $570 |
| $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em $100K GTD | 4/13/16 | 1 | $1,100 |
| $300 No-Limit Hold’em Charity | 4/13/16 | 1 | $300 |
| $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em Eight Max $200K GTD | 4/14/16 | 1 | $2,200 |
| $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em $2 Million GTD | 4/15/16 | 6 | $3,500 |
| $250 No-Limit Hold’em | 4/16/16 | 2 | $250 |
| $570 No-Limit Hold’em $50K GTD | 4/16/16 | 1 | $570 |
| $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em $2 Million GTD | 4/17/16 | 5 | $10,000 |
| $350 No-Limit Hold’em $30K GTD | 4/17/16 | 1 | $350 |
| $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em | 4/18/16 | 1 | $1,100 |
| $150 No-Limit Hold’em $50K GTD* | 4/18/16 | 3 | $150 |
| $570 No-Limit Hold’em | 4/18/16 | 1 | $570 |
| $2,200 Pot-Limit Omaha | 4/19/16 | 2 | $2,200 |
| $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em $1 Million GTD | 4/19/16 | 2 | $25,500 |
| $350 No-Limit Hold’em $50K GTD | 4/19/16 | 1 | $350 |
| $250 No-Limit Hold’em $25K GTD | 4/20/16 | 1 | $250 |
| $15,000 No-Limit Hold’em Tournament of Champions | 4/22/16 | 3 | $15,000 |
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