Wpt Australia to Return to Gold Coast Twice In 2020
In 2019, the World Poker Tour made its first trip to Australia. The festival ran for 11 days with 11 tournaments at The Star Gold Coast in Queensland, in its newly-remodeled poker room no less.
To say it was a hit would be an understatement. Many of the WPT staff – some Aussies by birth – attended the festival, as did celebrities like Shane Warne and poker pros like Joe Hachem. The series was a success.
It should be no surprise, then, that the WPT announced plans to return to The Star Gold Coast.
Next Month for WPTDS Gold Coast
What is a surprise, however, is how fast the WPT is actually going to return to Australia. It will be there from April 24 to May 4.
The WPTDeepStacks Gold Coast festival will kick off on Friday, April 24 and run through Monday, May 4, with the WPTDS Main Event set for April 30 to May 4.
And we already have the schedule, courtesy of the World Poker Tour. Here’s a quick rundown of the poker tournaments on tap:
- Event 1 / April 24-26: $750 NLHE Opening Event (two starting days, single reentry per day)
- Event 2 / April 26: $2K NLHE
- Event 3 / April 27: $330 NLHE Super Stack Freezeout
- Event 4 / April 28: $330 PLO (one reentry)
- Event 5 / April 29: $440 NLHE Big Bounty (one reentry, $200 bounties)
- Event 6 / April 30-May4: $1,500 NLHE Main Event (three starting days, single reentry per day)
- Event 7 / May 1: $440 NLHE Mega Stack Super Turbo Freezeout
- Event 8 / May 3: $550 PLO (one reentry)
- Event 9 / May 3-4: $5K NLHE 5K Challenge (reentries, Day 2 entry okay)
- Event 10 / May 4: $440 NLHE Deep Stack Freezeout
Bigger and Better in Season XIX
The World Poker Tour is kicking off its Season XIX in July. Always thinking ahead, the WPT is already planning its schedule and put WPT Australia on the calendar for late September and early October of this year.
In fact, the two biggest WPT brands are combining to offer the most poker tournament options possible. The WPT DeepStacks will be in its Season VII and offer its WPTDS Gold Coast Main Event September 24-28, while the WPT’s main tour will offer its WPT Australia Main Event October 1-5.
The entire WPT Australia festival will start on September 24 and run through October 6. The overall schedule has not been posted yet – it is more than six months away. But there is little doubt that the combination of the two tours will bring a sizeable list of tournaments to The Star Gold Coast for that series.
What is known is that the WPTDS Main Event will require a $1,100 buy-in, and the WPT Main Event will offer a $5,400 buy-in affair.
Finding and Solidifying a Partnership
The WPT has had many casino partners through the years. And when they find a casino venue for a World Poker Tour event – and everything goes well during the inaugural visit – that poker room becomes a part of the WPT family.
It seems this has happened with The Star Gold Coast.
Its COO, Jess Mellor, said that the casino and Australia as a whole warmly welcomes the WPT back in all capacities. “Last year’s event showed the poker world that The Star Gold Coast is a must-attend poker destination, and we look forward to showcasing our property to more players from around the globe.”
WPT VP of Global Tour Management Angelica Hael – born in Australia – noted that the relationship between the WPT and The Star continues to blossom, and the three upcoming series will offer more reasons for poker players to visit that poker room. “It brings me great joy to see poker continue to thrive in my native country and bring the WPT Champions Cup to Australia in Season XIX.”
WPT Player of the Year Races
For each season, the WPT runs its overall Player of the Year race for players who compete in their main tour events. The Season XIX WPT Australia will qualify its players to compete.
There is also the WPT DeepStacks Asia-Pacific Player of the Year competition for each season. All WPTDS tournaments in the region award points, tracked on a leaderboard throughout the season. In the end, the grand prize winner will receive a WPT Passport for events around the world worth $10K and a trophy. The second-place finisher receives a WPT Passport worth $3,500, and the third-place finisher wins $1,500 worth of buy-ins.
Incidentally, the player who won the WPT Australia last year, Hari Varma, is tied with two other players for first place on that leaderboard for the current season. The WPTDS events scheduled for next month could be the deciding factor for that POY race.
