In the last month of 2022, the World Poker Tour (WPT) will host a historic event at the Wynn in Las Vegas. The most outstanding feature of this December event is that it will go down in poker history as having the largest guaranteed prize pool yet. The tournament is open to anyone so part of this money is going into the pockets of a large number or winners.
For a buy-in of $10,400, poker players will get access to the no-limit hold’em event which has been scheduled to take place between December 12 and 20. The organizers have promised that at the end of the tournament, they will have paid out at least $15 million in prize money.
Assuming that there will be no overlay for this event, it is expected that the tournament is going to have the largest field for any $10,000 or above buy-in tournament other than the World Series of Poker (WSOP) (excluding $1 million buy-ins). If the promised lofty guarantee is going to paid out, this historic event is going to register a minimum of 1500 players and make multiple millionaires.
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Riding on Ambition
Even though the tournament has been highly publicized, it is going to play out as the crown jewel of the poker festival at Wynn that will run from December 1-20. Other series that poker players should look out for within the same stage include a Prime Championship, the WPT World Championship, and the return of the popular Wynn Mystery Bounty. The event organizers are yet to release the full schedules for these tournaments but the waiting time definitely becomes shorter as the appointed time approaches.
According to the CEO of WPT, Adam Pliska, working with a $15 million guaranteed prize pool is equivalent to swinging for the fences but the NJ online casino management remains positive on the success of the series. Pliska admits that this is the first time in the 20 year history of the World Poker Tour that they have attempted such an ambitious initiative.
Given that there is currently a huge poker following across the United States in line with the number of states that have legalized gambling, Pliska and his team are excited to be involved in the planning. Wynn Las Vegas is considered a powerhouse in poker matters and it is quite a privilege to be partnering with them to actualize the said concept.
The WPT World Championship organizers have arranged for Day 1 flights to run for three consecutive days; December 12, 13, and 14. This will pave way for the crowning of the champion, an event that has been slotted for December 20. According to the rules of the tournament, players will be at liberty to enter all the Day 1 events on different dates if they so wish but on condition that every flight is attempted once.
Within the same schedule, the WPT has planned to host a World Poker Tour Prime Championship at Wynn to run from December 8-12. For this $1,100 event, fans will be able to follow televised proceedings to witness poker professionals contesting for at least $2 million in guarantees. In addition to that, there will be a Wynn Mystery Bounty running from December 16-19 with a $2 million guarantee. One of the participating players will walk away with a mystery bounty envelope containing $100,000.
Although the entry into the World Championship will set you back $10,400, players do not need to get in this way. An alternative and cheaper way to book a slot is through winning ClubWPT qualifiers. This route is expected to let through at least 200 online qualifiers.
There is also the option of satellites and especially for experienced poker players. For a fraction of the buy-in, players can sign up for events from the first day and build their participation in high ranking events. More details on the various ways of participating in the WPT are expected to be released soon.
Wynn Millions no Longer at the Top
In summer 2021 and the spring that followed, the record for the largest guaranteed prize pool was taken by Wynn Millions Main Event. For $10 million, this was the largest tournament in the history of Las Vegas gambling (this is without factoring the WSOP). The two events paid out more than they had guaranteed and were considered rousing successes. In July 2021, Andrew Moreno won the championship for $1,460,106 after beating a pool of 1,328 entrants; the total payouts amounted to $12,483,200.
In March 2022, the winner of the same event was Tony Sinishtaj who took down the tournament for $1,655,952 after beating a total of 1,075 entrants. The event paid out an extra $105,000 over the guaranteed prize pool of $10 million.
Speaking on the quality of customer experience offered by Wynn, the Executive Director of Poker Operations at Wynn Las Vegas, Ryan Beauregard, said that the operator deliberately gives the best to their customers. The NJ poker casino site boasts of having world-class amenities that facilitate best service. In the current partnership with WPT, Wynn has created a festival that all casino enthusiasts will hate to miss. A one-of-a-kind, must-attend-event, the upcoming tournament is suited for new and experienced poker players.
Beauregard also reveals that this partnership is not going to end with the conclusion of the December event so players should expect more from this duo in the future. The Vice President of Global Tour Management at World Poker Tour, Angelica Hael, is eager to see what the partnership brings forth in the coming years.
Conclusion
The popularity of poker has been rising gradually over the last couple of years. This has paved way to a new breed of superstars that are present at any major poker tournament. The 2022 WPT World Championship at Wynn is one such tournament. Having announced the largest price pool in the history of poker, it is definitely going to attract all calibers of players.
