Fresh off Glen Witmer’s landmark win in the World Poker Tour’s North American Poker Championship just a few days ago in Niagara Falls, the WPT is back in action beginning on Monday. This time, the Bellagio in Las Vegas is the site of the Festa al Lago, a seven day WPT event that will crown a champion on Sunday, October 26th.
The tournament has a buy-in of $15,400 and awards a 45,000 starting chip stack to each player. Blind levels will last 90 minutes and a 15 minute break occurs after each level of play. There are no rebuys and 3% of the prize pool will be distributed to tournament staff. If 300-399 players register, the Festa al Lago will award money to the top 50 finishers. If more than 399 players register, then the top 100 will make the money.
Here is the full schedule for the WPT event:
Monday, October 20th
WPT Championship Day 1A: 12:00pm
Super Satellite No Limit Hold’em: 10:00pm, $1,500 + $90 buy-in
Tuesday, October 21st
WPT Championship Day 1B: 12:00pm
Wednesday, October 22nd
WPT Championship Day 2: 12:00pm
Thursday, October 23rd
WPT Championship Day 3: 12:00pm
Club WPT No Limit Hold’em: 2:00pm, $500 + $40 buy-in
Friday, October 24th
WPT Championship Day 4: 12:00pm
Saturday, October 25th
WPT Championship Day 5: 12:00pm
Sunday, October 26th
WPT Championship Televised Six-Handed Final Table
The Festa al Lago was not a World Poker Tour event during Season VI. However, in 2006 during the fifth season of the WPT, Andreas Walnum defeated Steve Wong heads-up to win the Festa al Lago, which was then a $10,000 tournament. Walnum took home $1.1 million for the win; Wong’s consolation prize was worth a healthy $542,000. Joe Pelton finished third, cashing for $292,000. Coming in fourth place was Christopher Loveland, who pocketed $187,745. David Baker was in fifth on the leader board when the six-handed final table was complete, winning $125,000. Rounding out the group was Can Kim Hua, who finished sixth for $83,000.
The October Bellagio tournament during Season IV of the WPT was the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship (NAPC), which was won by Minh Ly. Also reaching the final table were Dan Harrington, Gavin Smith, Don Zewin, Jan Sorensen, and Tony Grand. The NAPC in October of 2004 was won by Spanish poker pro Carlos Mortensen, who defeated Kido Pham heads-up. David Pham, Erik Seidel, Hung La, and 2008 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event winner John Juanda also joined Mortensen at the final table.
In December, the Bellagio will play host to the Five Diamond World Poker Classic. The tournament begins on December 13th and will crown a winner six days later. The buy-in is also $15,400. Before the tournament starts, the WPT heads to Foxwoods in Connecticut for the World Poker Finals next month.
The Bellagio plays host to high-stakes events that regularly attract some of the top poker players in Las Vegas. Here is the typical weekly schedule for the casino’s massive poker room:
Sunday through Thursday: $540+40 Buy-in
Tournaments Begin at 2:00pm
6,000 Starting Chip Stack
Blind Levels of 40 minutes
Friday and Saturday: $1000+$80 Buy-in
Tournaments Begin at 2:00pm
10,000 Starting Chip Stack
Blind Levels of 40 minutes
We’ll have regular updates from the felts at the Bellagio, the site of the Festa al Lago, right here on Poker News Daily.