World Poker Tour Announces Three Australian Events For 2022
The World Poker Tour and The Star Entertainment are joining forces and bringing three World Poker Tour events to Australia. The events include the first-ever World Poker Tour (WPT) event held in Sydney and the inaugural Main Event in Australia.
Adam Pliska is the World Poker Tour CEO. He spoke about the passion Australians have for poker.
“Poker players in Australia have always been passionate about the game and the partnership with The Star Entertainment Group allows us to expand our presence there. Hosting the first WPT event at The Star Sydney puts us front and centre in the largest poker market in Australia, one of the most iconic cities of the world, adding another element to our 20th-anniversary celebration.”
The World Poker Tour partnership thrills Damian Quayle, the Chief Operations Officer of The Star Entertainment Group.
“The Star has hosted some of the biggest names in sport, music, and entertainment, and we look forward to welcoming the world’s best poker players. The Star is the home of poker in Australia, and we are thrilled with our partnership with WPT to host this globally-recognised tournament for the first time ever in Sydney.”
“With the WPT celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2022, this event will be the first time that WPT sets a footprint in Sydney. This looks set to be the biggest ever stages in Asia Pacific and with the world’s best players here to compete, Sydney and The Star will be showcased as one of the best vacation playgrounds in the world.”
When Is The World Poker Tour Coming to Australia?
Aussie poker players do not have long to wait to get involved in a World Poker Tour event. WPTDeepStacks Sydney heads to The Star Sydney from March 30 through April 11.
The WPTDeepStacks Sydney schedule has 12 tournaments, including the $1,500 buy-in Main Event. That Main Event takes place between April 7-11. WPTDeepStacks Gold Coast ran in May 2021 and attracted 1,113 entrants who created a $1,502,550 prize pool. British pro Will Davies won that event and returned home with $252,729 for his efforts.
The other two Australian World Poker Tour events are currently awaiting regulatory approval. Both run at The Star Gold Coast.
Australia native and WPT VP of Global Tour Management, Angelica Hael, looks forward to welcoming people to all three events.
“I could not be more excited to be bringing a Main Tour stop to my home country. I look forward to greeting every single one of my fellow Aussies at the event and welcoming the world to an amazing host property, The Star.”
Will COVID-19 Stop the Gold Coast Events Again?
This is not the first time the World Poker Tour planned a stop at The Star Gold Coast. WPT Australia at The Star Gold Coast ran in October 2019. it is fair to say it was a roaring success. Some 658 players bought in and the casino collected $1,480,550 in prize money. Hari Varma was the last man standing on that occasion; he scooped $274,247.
World Poker Tour planned a 2020 return to the Gold Coast. However, COVID-19 put paid to those plans. Hundreds of Australian poker players prepared to pay $5,400 to enter the Main Event, but it never happened. In addition, the virus caused the cancellation of a WPTDeepStacks event, too.
Queensland has seen 418,000 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. This is the third-most across Australia. Sadly, the virus has killed 209 Queenslanders.
More than 10,000 new COVID cases are reported every day in Queensland over the past week despite the state having a full vaccination rate of almost 90%. The are currently no travel restrictions into and out of Queensland, however.
Everything points towards these new World Poker Tour events happening. But if the pandemic has taught us anything it is things change quickly. Watch this space.
