The World Poker Tour has released the schedule for the first half of Season XX. It is quite small, consisting of just three Tour stops, though the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the fast-spreading omicron variant of the virus could be playing a hand in that.
We mentioned the first stop on the “Main Tour” last week, the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open (LHPO). It begins tomorrow, January 13 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, and runs through January 26.
There are 33 events in total at the LHPO, with buy-ins ranging from $150 to $25,500. All of the tournaments permit re-entries, though some just allow one. The $3,500 Main Event runs January 21-26 and has a $2 million guaranteed prize pool. Last year’s Main Event had zero problem eclipsing that guarantee, attracting 1,573 entries, which generated a prize pool of just over $5 million.
“We could not be happier to be launching our historic 20th anniversary with an amazing partner in Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood,” said WPT CEO Adam Pliska in Tuesday’s announcement. “We have a number of special initiatives planned for the rest of the year to give the poker community amazing ways to celebrate with us.”
It is not the spring that there is another stop on the World Poker Tour’s Main Tour. And for that one, it is back to the exact same Seminole Hard Rock venue for the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. It goes March 24 through April 12; the complete schedule has yet to be published.
What has been published is the schedule for the Main Event, which goes April 8-12, costs $3,500, and has a $2 million guarantee. There are two starting flights, one each on April 8 and April 9. The final table is delayed until May 25, to be held and filmed for television at the HyperX Esports Arena at the Luxor in Las Vegas. Last year’s Main Event drew 2,482 entries, making it the largest field for a live event in World Poker Tour history.
The third and final event for the first half of the WPT season (told you it was short) is WPT Choctaw at Choctaw Casino & Resort in Durant, Oklahoma. The festival dates are April 28 through May 16, with the $3,800 Main Event going May 13-16. The guaranteed prize pool is currently in “TBD” status. This final table will also be at the HyperX Esports Arena on May 26.
Mixed in among the Main Tour stops are a few other poker festivals. The first is coming up in a couple weeks: the WPT Spring Festival sponsored by Poker King, January 27 through February 7. The WPT has not published much information about this, but it appears to be about the same as last year’s event and will be played online. The Main Event, which goes February 1-7, costs 2,200 yuan ($345). There are a dozen tournaments in all.
Also coming up this spring are some WPTDeepStacks events. WPTDeepStacks Amsterdam will run March 25 through April 2 at Holland Casino, WPTDeepStacks Sydney is at Star Sydney March 30 through April 11, and WPTDeepStacks Thunder Valley is at the Thunder Valley Casino and Resort in Lincoln, California April 19 through May 1.
