2006 Should Be a Great Year for Tournament PokerThere Will Be Plenty of Chances to Play in a Big Event Throughout Year |
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It's going to be hard to follow up 2005 as far as tournament poker is concerned, but that doesn't mean casinos and cardrooms won't stop trying. The calendar is already being filled with dates for big-time poker events in 2006 and optimism seems to reign that players will continuously find ways into the high-stakes buy-in events.
CardPlayer.com will be there with its latest round of live interactive content, including a new daily radio show, "The Circuit," which will feature discussion and analysis from poker's top players. CardPlayer.com will also bring streaming video updates covering all the high stakes action and a full suite of tournament reporting including live updates, photos, chip counts and expert analysis.
CardPlayer.com's full multimedia tournament reporting coveage will take place during the championship event of the World Poker Open at the Gold Strike Casino in Tunica thats run Jan. 19 to Jan 23. The multimedia team will also be at the Borgata Poker Classic that runs from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1, in Atlantic City.
For those who thought about playing in a big - or not-so-big - event, 2006 will offer plenty of opportunities all around the country. And with more and more online sites offering satellites to events not named the World Series of Poker, 2006 should be the biggest tournament poker year ever.
WSOP planners must think so. Not only did they add more hold'em tournaments events at this year's WSOP, they're preparing to be able to accommodate 8,000 players for next year's main event.
If that many people find a way into the summer tournament, the players will be broken up into four different groups and stagger-start the first four days of the tournament. The organizers are expecting so many people this year, that they even scheduled in a day off. The main event is scheduled to last almost two weeks.
If players don't want to face the massive crowds that will surely descend on the Rio this summer, they should check out one of the remaining WSOP Circuit events. There are seven events to choose from, starting Jan. 4, in Tunica, Mississippi.
The next several months see the WSOP crew head to Jack Binion WSOP Tournament Circuit (Jan 5-23), Harrah's Atlantic City (Feb. 7-17), Harrah's Rincon San Diego (Feb. 26-March 8), Caesars Atlantic City (March 21-31), Caesars Palace Las Vegas (April 3-14), Harrah's New Orleans (May 18-28) and Harrah's Lake Tahoe (June 6-16).
Buy-ins at the circuit events range from $500 to $10,000.
The event at Harrah's New Orleans is worth noting since the casino still remains closed due to Hurricane Katrina. Although plans are tentative, Harrah's will try to open the damaged casino sometime in February.
Next year also wraps up the fourth season of an ambitious World Poker Tour schedule. With 16 events that started in May, the WPT World Championship that will be held at the Bellagio April 3-24 will close a busy year for the WPT.
For those who want to try to play poker on TV, eight events remain, starting with the PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure (Jan. 1-11). The World Poker Open at the Gold Strike Casino is next (Jan 19-23), followed by the Borgata Poker Classic (Jan. 29-Feb. 1), the L.A. Poker Classic (Feb. 16-21), WPT Invitational (Feb. 22-24 at the Commerce Casino), the Bay 101 Shooting Star (Feb 27-March 3), and the World Poker Challenge (March 27-30 at the Reno Hilton).
The season concludes with the WPT World Championship (April 18-24), the $25,000 buy-in event that's held at the Bellagio.
But the poker world doesn't begin and end with the WPT or the WSOP. Casinos everywhere are catching the tournament bug and will hold plenty of tournaments throughout the year.
Some of the tournaments to note include the 2006 Poker Derby at Hollywood Park Casino Jan. 6-15. Buy-ins range from $125 to $2,080 for its main event.
In New York, at the the Seneca Niagra Casino and Hotel, the World Poker Classsic will take place Jan. 24-Feb. 2. Buy-ins range from $120 to $1,580 for the main event.
In Oklahoma, the Cherokee Casino Resort in Tulsa will hold the Oklahoma State Championship of Poker, starting Feb. 6. The championship of the event is a $3,060 no-limit tourney.
But that's just a warmup for Cherokee Casino, which just signed poker champ Scotty Nguyen as its poker ambassador. It will hold the Oklahoma Johnny Hale Open from March 29 to April 9. The event will feature three $1,000 buy-in events, a $2,000 event, and concludes with a $10,000 championship event.
Plenty of other tournaments will take place in casinos and cardrooms across the country. For those who were thinking about playing in an event bigger than the local weekly fire hall charity tournaments, 2006 just might be the year.
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