Making their new poker tournaments series a truly international event, the World Poker Tour announced that the inaugural season of WPT Alpha8 – their high stakes tournament poker series – will journey outside of the United States later this month and in early 2014.
After making its debut with the WPT Alpha8 Florida event last month, the WPT announced that the next stop for the circuit will be in London, the United Kingdom, at the Mayfair Palm Beach Casino. On October 28, WPT Alpha8 London will bring together some of the most deep-pocketed professionals and businessmen for play on the special WPT Alpha8 set for a two day tournament with an unlimited re-entry component. That tournament will be a £100,000 buy in tournament, which translates roughly to $161,000 U. S (using today’s exchange rates, it may be higher come the time of the tournament) and the tournament is capped at 30 players.
“We are very excited to name London as the second stop for our new Alpha8 series,” said WPT President Adam Pliska during the announcement of the new stops. “With its long-standing reputation as one of the world’s premier cities and financial capitals, London offers all of the amenities any high-stakes poker player could possibly desire. Its combination of culture, fine dining, nightlife, and enthusiasm for high-stakes poker make it the perfect venue for a unique event such as Alpha8.”
In addition to the London stop for WPT Alpha8, the organization also named one of the stops for the upcoming year. WPT Alpha8 will set foot in Johannesburg, South Africa on February 14 at the Emperors Palace Hotel and Casino Resort for another two day unlimited re-entry event. The buy in for WPT Alpha8 Johannesburg will be $100,000 (U. S.) and those that take part in the tournament will receive one week of complimentary accommodations, a two-night safari trip and other accoutrements for their entry.
“South Africa is home to one of the most enthusiastic poker communities anywhere, and the gorgeous Emperors Palace Casino is truly a one-of-a-kind gaming destination,” Pliska commented. “The resort offers everything the discerning, high-stakes player wants, whether it is world-class poker or the chance to enjoy an unforgettable vacation in one of the world’s most beautiful and exclusive destinations. Emperors Palace truly epitomizes what Alpha8 is all about.”
Both tournaments will be filmed for broadcast, with anchor Lynn Gilmartin and commentators Ali Nejad and Olivier Busquet in attendance, in early 2014 on Fox Sports 1.
The inaugural WPT Alpha8 tournament, held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL, as a preliminary event (if you can call a $100K tournament a preliminary) to their $10 million guaranteed Main Event during their Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, drew in an impressive field of players. 18 players showed up for WPT Alpha8 Florida, with three men – Daniel Perper, Daniel Alaei and Isaac Haxton – choosing to take advantage of the re-entry in the tournament. After one day of play, Alaei and Haxton were able to make the final nine of the tournament with Matt Glantz at the head of the field.
Glantz had some tough competition outside of Alaei and Haxton. Jason Mercier, Steven Silverman, Jeff Gross, Joseph Cheong, 2013 World Series of Poker “November Nine” chip leader J. C. Tran and Bill Perkins were all a part of the “unofficial” nine handed table (the WPT Alpha8 uses an “official” eight handed final table) and, with only four players taking a payday from the tournament, the action was outstanding. In the end, Glantz could only make it to fourth place ($243,180) and, after Gross left in third place ($364,770), it was down to Silverman and Tran for the title.
Nearly even in chips to start the heads up fight, Tran was able to work out to a slight lead over the first five hands, but Silverman earned a big double when his pocket nines held against Tran’s A-J to take over the lead. Down to only 300K in chips, Tran was unable to make a comeback as, three hands later, he succumbed to Silverman, who took home $891,660 for the win while Tran was consoled with a $526,890 payday.
The new tournaments announced on the WPT Alpha8 schedule bring the grand total of events to three at this point. Other tournaments will be held in 2014, although the WPT is keeping those events under wraps for announcement at a future date.