A ton of big WPT tour events are coming up in the USA in the next few months including the Legends of Poker, the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Tampa starting September 2, the WPT Five Diamond Classic at the Bellagio in October, the WPT Seminole Rock 'N' Roll Poker Open in Florida in November and the WPT World Championship at the Wynn in December.
The WPT Legends of Poker festival is already underway at the famous Parkwest Bicycle “The Bike” Casino in Los Angeles with the $5,250 Main Event starting August 27. There are three start days with the televised final table taking place on September 1. At the last event in 2019, American Aaron Van Blarcum snagged the enormous first prize of $474,390 after topping a field of 520 entries. In fact, the Texas businessman and former skateboard pro was on a phenomenal tear after going from just $21k in total live tournament winnings in July 2019 to a whopping $4.1 million a year later. His spectacular run included winning the $25k WPT Five Diamonds Classic High Roller at the Bellagio for $333k and then coming second in the $50k version a few days later. He also had a runner-up finish at the partypoker MILLIONS in the Bahamas worth $970k and snagged a further million or so down under with major cashes at the Australian Open and Aussie Millions in early 2020. He then picked up $600k or so at the partypoker MILLIONS Super High Roller Series in Sochi just before the pandemic hit.
Following Legends at the Bike, it’s time to head east for WPT Seminole Hard Rock Tampa. The full festival runs August 25 - September 7 with the $3,500 Main Event starting on September 2. The tour is then off to Vegas in October for its annual sojourn at the Bellagio for the WPT Five Diamond Classic. The five-day $10,400 Main Event starts on October 19. British player Patrick Leonard , who secured his first ever WSOP bracelet this year, has already said he’ll be competing at this one, along with December’s WPT World Championship at the Wynn. Leonard won his WSOP bracelet after joining forces with eventual WSOP Main Event champion Espen Uhlen Jørstad to win the $1k Tag Team event.
In November, the World Poker Tour is off to Florida for the WPT Seminole Rock 'N' Roll Poker Open and will then wrap up 2022 at the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas in December.
Launch of WPT Prime
The WPT has also added a whole new tour to its live tournament offer this year with the launch of WPT Prime. WPT Prime made its debut with events in Vietnam and Australia and WPT Prime Cambodia is underway now with a 12-day event in the spectacular Nagaworld resort casino in Phnom Penh.
Next month the new tour (which replaces the WPTDeepstacks tour) heads to the Spanish capital for WPT Prime Madrid. The festival runs from September 10-19 at Casino Gran Via with a three-day €1,100 Main Event starting on September 15. There are four start flights including a Day 1d Turbo on September 17. In addition to the Main Event, there are 23 other tournaments on the schedule including Ladies Event, Seniors Event, a €5,250 High Roller and NLH Confidential Bounty tournament.
Photos: Hard Rock Seminole and Madrid