While the battle in Berlin, Germany for the latest European Poker Tour championship rages on through the weekend, two tournament circuits will hit the felt on Friday in the United States that will have the attention of the poker world as well.
On the East Coast, the World Poker Tour will once again settle its feet in the sands of Jacksonville, FL for the bestbet Jacksonville Open that begins on Friday. The $3500 buy in event will feature two Day Ones and a re-entry option for players but, perhaps most importantly, it is the last chance for players to take part in a U. S. event on the Season XI schedule for the WPT and earn points towards the WPT Player of the Year award.
“It’s been a thrilling season so far with some amazing performances and one of the tightest Player of the Year races we’ve ever seen,” said WPT President Adam Pliska prior to the start of the tournament. “It’s particularly exciting to watch Matt Salsberg – a WPT champion who, until recently, has been better known for his work as Hollywood writer and producer on Entourage and Weeds – run neck-and-neck with some of the game’s most talented pros as they all try to become the WPT Player of the Year. Right now, it’s truly anybody’s race and we can’t wait to see who comes out on top.”
Salsberg, who has committed to play at the Jacksonville tournament, currently has 2500 points towards taking down the WPT POY championship. That opportunity has been challenged, however, by the run of Paul Volpe at the two California stops earlier this year. Volpe, who earned a runner-up finish at the L. A. Poker Classic in February and followed that up with a third place performance at the Bay 101 Shooting Star, has accrued 2400 points to put him in contention for the POY title. The victor at the L. A. Poker Classic, Paul Klann (who also drove deep in the Bay 101), Antonio Esfandiari and Marvin Rettenmaier fill out the Top Five players who may have a say in who eventually takes down the title by the time it hits the Bellagio in Las Vegas for the WPT Championship.
Other top pros that have put their names in the mix for the bestbet Jacksonville Open include WPT champions Matt Giannetti, Noah Schwartz and Steve Brecher, WPT Season IX Player of the Year Andy Frankenberger, Brian Hastings and Matt Glantz.
While this is the final event in the United States before the start of the WPT Championship, there will be one more chance for players to get some valuable points in the POY race. Starting next Friday is the PartyPoker.net WPT Canadian Spring Championship at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal, Quebec. In November, the WPT made a stop at the Playground and set Canadian records for entries as well as the prize pool and there is no reason not to believe that won’t happen again next week.
While some players might choose the battleground in Florida this weekend, others will take up the challenge in the Midwest with the Heartland Poker Tour. The HPT will set foot into one of its favorite stomping grounds, the River City Casino in St. Louis, MO, for its latest tournament stop. After running satellite events all week between River City and its sister casino, Lumiere Place, the tournament should (as it did last year) prove to be one of its biggest of the season.
The HPT Main Event will start on Friday with the first of what will be three flights. The $1650 buy in tournament will feature Day 1A on Friday and, in a unique move, will feature Day 1B and 1C on Saturday. On the Saturday schedule, the Day 1B flight will start at 9AM (Central Time), with the Day 1C flight taking off at 4PM.
Throughout the day on Friday and through the early part of the day on Saturday, the HPT will be holding satellite tournaments to qualify as many players as possible. Those tournaments begin as low as $50 and as high as $360 and, as per the tenet of the HPT, should qualify a plethora of players for the Main Event at less than the posted buy in. The final table for the Main Event will play on Monday.
At this time, it is unknown if the defending champion of this event, poker professional Will “The Thrill” Failla, will be returning to defend his championship. It is unlikely that the champion of the September 2012 tournament for the HPT at River City, former World Champion Greg Raymer, will be back in town for the event.
Whether you are in Europe or the United States this weekend, there is poker action to be found everywhere! Poker News Daily will keep you up to date on the happenings as the various tours continue to span the globe.
