The World Poker Tour has not been content to sit back and cede the summer poker news to the World Series of Poker. After announcing the creation of new tournaments in several locales and broadcast outlets in areas of Europe it previously wasn’t seen, the WPT has finished off (maybe) the month of May by announcing the schedule of their Season XVI Main Tour schedule for the remainder of the 2017 calendar year.
“At the World Poker Tour, we believe in strong, lasting partnerships with our casino partners, and I am delighted to welcome the return of Choctaw Casino Resort, The Bicycle Hotel & Casino, Borgata Hotel, Casino and Spa, Maryland Live!, bestbet Poker, Simulcast & Racing, Playground Poker Club, and Bellagio for Season XVI,” said Adam Pliska, the Chief Executive Officer of the World Poker Tour. “Each of these venues helped make Season XV of the World Poker Tour our most-attended season in history, and we look forward to returning to these popular properties this year for seven world-class poker events.”
The Season XVI schedule has already started with two stops, the WPT Beijing Invitational that was played in April and the WPT Amsterdam that played in May. For now, the Main Tour is on hiatus until August. Beginning on August 4, the WPT Choctaw, a $3700 (counting juice) tournament will be held at the Choctaw Casino Resort in Choctaw, OK. August will conclude with one of the venerable events on the WPT schedule, the WPT Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Hotel and Casino in Bell Gardens, CA. That $4000 buy-in tournament begins on August 26.
September also features two big tournaments, one that’s been a part of the WPT for a bit and a newcomer that is making its mark. The WPT pulls into Atlantic City for the WPT Borgata Poker Open, a $3500 buy-in tournament, on September 17 and, on September 30, Maryland once again plays host to the WPT with the WPT Maryland Live! $3500 Main Event. These two tournaments usually feature a multiple rebuy/start day format which, in the past, has drawn sizeable fields for competition.
The WPT slows down a bit for the final three months of 2017. On October 20, the WPT will open action at the WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble in Jacksonville, FL. This is a $5000 tournament that features a bounty format. Knock a player out, take a cash award for that knockout – it’s that simple. Because of the opportunity to make a bit of cash for knocking out players, some may not even make the money in the tournament but earn enough through bounty knockouts to offset their entry into the WPT event.
In November, the WPT returns to “North of the Border” and what might be called its own “playground.” Beginning on November 10, the WPT Montreal at the Playground Poker Club will begin, where it has routinely drawn monster crowds despite one of the larger buy-ins on Canadian soil ($3850). In 2016, the WPT Montreal became memorable for being the tournament that Mike Sexton etched his name onto the WPT Champions’ Cup and, in a return visit to the Playground earlier this year, Ema Zajmovic became the first woman to win an open event on the WPT Main Tour schedule.
The WPT will wrap up its 2017 calendar year by returning to a place steeped in WPT history. The Bellagio in Las Vegas will play host to the 16th edition of the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, a $10,400 buy-in tournament known as much for the quality of players on the felt as the locale of the tournament. Beginning on December 7, players will compete in one of the few WPT events that still feature a $10K buy in and builds a prize pool that can reach several million dollars. The top finishers in the 2016 tournament, eventual champion James Romero and runner up Ryan Tosoc, both racked up seven-figure scores for their work in Sin City.
There are three events that weren’t in the mix for the Season XVI schedule that were a part of the Season XV roster of tournaments. The partypoker WPT United Kingdom, the partypoker WPT Caribbean in Punta Cana and the partypoker WPT Prague have all been dropped from the roster, most likely due to partypoker’s recent actions in reviving a live tournament schedule of their own. While the locations may return at some point, having partypoker as a sponsoring partner will not be in the mix for the WPT.
The Season XVI slate of events take players around the world, truly putting the “world” in the WPT moniker. For more details on the events, be sure to visit their website to learn more.