The World Poker Tour is ready for 2022. It is a fresh start to a new year, one that has the potential to play all the way through the year with few postponements or cancellations. It will be an improved post-pandemic schedule, reminiscent of pre-2020 years filled with numerous live poker options. And this year is the 20th anniversary of the WPT, setting up Season XX to be a historic one.
WPT executives also took this opportunity to list out the first online event of the new year, as well as the first of the 2022 WPTDeepStacks events.
Starting at Seminole
This week, the World Poker Tour announced the stops that will comprise the first half of Season XX. It will start this month at a player-favorite stop in Hollywood, Florida. The Lucky Hearts Poker Open festival starts at the Seminole Hard Rock on January 13 and runs through January 26. The WPT will then return to that property in April for the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown and over to Choctaw in Oklahoma for a May festival.
There are quite a few gaps in the main tour schedule at this point. This certainly allows for the WPT to add tour stops along the way. Season XIX postponed events at bestbet Jacksonville in Florida and WPT Maryland at Live! Casino. And events that haven’t returned since the pandemic include stops at Gardens Casino and the Bicycle Casino – both in Southern California, Thunder Valley in Northern California, and Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Most notably, the WPT has yet to announce if it will partner with Commerce Casino in Southern California for the L.A. Poker Classic. Commerce did announce that the series will begin on January 21 and run through February 27. There is plenty of time to schedule a Main Event there.
https://twitter.com/CommerceCasino/status/1475529004446674945?s=20
Meanwhile, the list of official WPT main tour stops for Season XX – so far – consists of:
WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open at Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida--Festival: January 13-26--$3,500 buy-in NLHE Main Event (2 flights, $2M GTD): January 21-26-----Main Event final table to stream online on 30-minute delay: January 26 at 2pm ETWPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Hollywood, Florida--Festival: March 24 – April 12--$3,500 buy-in NLHE Main Event (2 flights, $2M GTD): April 8-12-----Main Event final table to play at Esports Arena in Las Vegas on May 25 (filmed for TV)WPT Choctaw at Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma--Festival: April 28 – May 16--$3,800 buy-in NLHE Main Event (2 flights, $1M GTD): May 13-16-----Main Event final table to play at Esports Arena in Las Vegas on May 26 (filmed for TV)
In the middle of the first main tour events is one that is on the WPTDeepStacks schedule, though it is unclear if it is a part of that tour or the main tour. Either way, it will be the online WPT Spring Festival on the Poker King online poker site. (Play is not permitted from within the United States.)
The action will kick off in late January and run through the first week of February.
WPT Spring Festival sponsored by Poker King--Festival: January 27 – February 7 (¥12M or approximately $1.9M GTD)--¥2,200 (approximately $345) buy-in NLHE Main Event (¥8M or approximately $1.25M GTD)
One might recognize the Poker King name by its famous ambassadors – Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey. Note, however, that the site is not pokerking-dot-com but pk8.com, though those in the US may not be able to access that, either.
WPTDS Goes Abroad
As mentioned, the first listing of the 2022 WPTDeepStacks schedule is the Poker King online action. From that point, the WPTDS crew goes to Amsterdam and Australia before heading to Thunder Valley in Northern California.
Again, there are gaps in this schedule, with the first event not set until the end of March. There could be other events added in prior to Amsterdam and most certainly after Thunder Valley. The non-US events are heavily dependent upon Covid-19 restrictions and the ease of travel. While I have no inside information, this schedule is too sparse and will undoubtedly bulk up soon.
For now, the three events on the schedule are:
WPTDeepStacks Amsterdam at Holland Casino Amsterdam--Festival: March 25 – April 2--€1,200 buy-in NLHE Main Event: March 29 – April 1WPTDeepStacks Sydney at the Star Sydney in NSW, Australia--Festival: March 30 – April 11--AU$1,500 buy-in NLHE Main Event WPTDeepStacks Thunder Valley at Thunder Valley CasinWPo in Lincoln, California--Festival: April 19 – May 1--$1,500 buy-in NLHE Main Event: April 28 – May 1
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