The World Poker Tour and partypoker LIVE are global partners thanks to a new four-year deal announced on Wednesday. Seven joint events are on tap to be hosted in Canada and Europe with a prize pool guarantee topping off at €3 million.
Montreal plays host to the first series held as part of the deal in October at the Playground Poker Club. The WPT premieres the first-ever trio of branded events to be held at a single stop. WPT500, WPTDeepStacks, and the WPT Main Tour are all represented at the festival.
Other properties named in the WPT release are Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham, UK (a past Main Tour and WPT500 stop) and Casino Sochi in Sochi, Russia.
partypokerLIVE MILLIONS holds a strong base in all properties since the inception of the tour in April 2017.
WPT online qualifiers at partypoker
A key detail coming from Wednesday’s news is the availability of online satellites for all of the events involved in the partnership. Starting at only $.01, players can qualify on partypoker for all WPT Main Tour events. A minimum of 300 seats are going to be up for grabs through promotions run on partypoker.
Also now in the fold are partypoker LIVE Dollars, a form of currency won on partypoker that players are now able to transfer over to select WPT Main Tour events. LIVE Dollars can be won in satellites on partypoker and then be used to for event buy-ins, travel expenses including hotels, and visas. LIVE Dollar satellites run weekly with guarantees of over $1.1 million.
“The World Poker Tour is proud to partner with partypoker LIVE on this new, four-year global initiative,” WPT CEO Adam Pliska said. “The partnership allows the WPT to continue its dedication of bringing world-class poker to people’s lives, and we are honored to have John Duthie and the entire team at partypoker LIVE sharing in this value. Together with partypoker LIVE, we look forward to elevating the game for all levels.”
Exciting stops on the horizon
The announcement expands the availability of live poker events for all three regions included thus far.
Montreal is a strong ally with partypoker and the WPT. Last year, Playground hosted the first North American partypoker LIVE MILLIONS series and raised the stakes with their festival of events in the 2018 edition. World Poker Tour utilized Montreal in past seasons as one of the few properties to host two Main Tour events. The property comes full circle in being chosen to be the first to run all three WPT-branded tournaments in a single series.
The WPT500 runs from October 26-30 followed by the Main Event from October 29-November 4. WPTDeepStacks wraps the series from November 1-4. The Main Event is a C$5,300 buy-in. Day 1 play for the Main Event can be done online through partypoker on October 28. WPT500 also allows for online Day 1s on October 21, 22, and 23.
WPT returns to Dusk Till Dawn in April 2019 for the first time since Season IX when Iaron Lightbourne joined the Champions Club against a field of 450 runners.
Russia has hosted the WSOP Circuit and partypoker LIVE in the past. The eventual WPT event held in Sochi will be a first for the country when the tour arrives in April 2019.
Players proved last month their willingness to show up for a prestigious event. partypoker LIVE MILLIONS drew 692 entrants this month for a ₽300,000 ($4,400) buy-in. Attendees can forecast a similar buy-in for the WPT Main Tour event.
“The partnership with partypoker LIVE will bring WPT Main Tour stops in Europe to unprecedented heights,” WPT VP of Europe Hermance Blum said. “We are thrilled that two major operators can join forces again to bring the best poker experience to the players with each individual savoir-faire.”