Demonstrating that the tournament poker circuit never seems to take a rest, the World Poker Tour kicks back into action today in Connecticut for the first of two Day Ones at the Foxwoods World Poker Finals.
A part of the WPT since its inception ten seasons ago, the Foxwoods tournament has consistently drawn the crème of the poker world out for action. Although online poker has taken a hit in the United States, live tournament participation has been on the upswing around the world since the actions of April 15. The WPT World Poker Finals are expected to continue that trend, with big names drawn out by the first $10,000 buy in event of the Season Ten schedule.
The WPT World Poker Finals has an illustrious history on its roster of champions. Howard Lederer earned the first of his two WPT titles in the inaugural tournament back in 2002 and since then other top pros have also made their mark on the event. Such notable professional players as Hoyt Corkins (2003), Tuan Le (2004), Nick Schulman (2005), Nenad Medic (2006), Jonathan Little (2008) and Cornel Cimpan (2009) can lay claim to having won the WPT World Poker Finals and it is expected that, with the large buy in, another pro will take the title in 2011.
Day 1A is off and running, but players are taking their time getting to the event. Although the cards are already in the air, defending champion Jeff Forrest has yet to make the floor at Foxwoods. Forrest Tweeted regarding his pursuit of defending his championship, “On a bus from Providence to Foxwoods. Ugly day outside but a good day to play poker.”
Players already on the floor in Connecticut include former champion Little (“Playing the $10,000 WPT event at Foxwoods soon. Now is the time to run hot.”), Team PokerStars Pro David Williams (who seems to be having some trouble negotiating the monstrous Connecticut property), WPT “The Real Deal” host Tony “Bond_18” Dunst (“Pretty unknown table to start the tournament and a 30K bank, let’s do this thang!) and Kathy Liebert (“Made it to Foxwoods, only five levels today.”).
A player who still hasn’t decided on whether to play in the tournament is WSOP bracelet holder Allen Bari, who chirped across Twitter, “Contemplating driving to Foxwoods today to late register the WPT.”
The late registration is something that has been a question for players in Connecticut for the tournament. Originally it was believed that late registration would only go on until the start of Day Two on Sunday, but an announcement from the WPT changed that. Late registration, according to reports from the WPT, will continue until the end of Level Six – or one level into play on Day Two – allowing players to make last minute plans to attend. This is also in line with what the tournament’s late registration policy was for last year’s event.
At this moment, there are 166 entries into the tournament and it is within reason to expect that number to eclipse the 350 mark by the end of late registration on Sunday. There has already been an elimination – only approximately fifteen minutes into the tournament – when Michael Forca pushed his Big Slick into the pocket Kings of James Frangoulidis. Once an Ace failed to show on the board, Forca earned the dubious distinction of leaving the Foxwoods tournament poker arena first.
The WPT World Poker Finals will be the focal tournament in action over the weekend. The final table is set to play out on Tuesday and will be streamed live on the WPT website. After a hectic month of European tournament action, the United States gets back in the game in a big way starting today.
