Last November, nearly 1,200 players ponied up $3000+$300 to participate in WPT Montreal, creating a massive prize-pool of roughly $3.4 million dollars and a top prize worth more than $775,000; the largest 1st place poker The star studded field included All Time Money tournament leaders Antonio Esfandiari and Daniel Negreanu, past WPT Champions David Williams and Gavin Smith, top female players Xuan Liu and Isabelle Mercier, young guns Mike “Timex” McDonald and Mike “SirWatts” Watson as well as 2012 Global Index POY leaders Dan Smith and Marvin Rettenmaier…So how do you make the third largest field in World Poker Tour history shine even brighter?
You give the players what they want and bring in the cameras in for a full televised PartyPoker.net WPT Montreal Main Event from November 29th to December 5th, you bump the stakes just enough to a $3,500 + $350 and you look to make room for even more players to participate. Throw in the very real possibility of adding a “High Roller” side event for poker’s elite and you just should have the right recipe to see Canadian poker history made once again.
Players won’t have to wait until fall to take their shot at a Canadian WPT title however, now that would just be cruel! Instead, they will want to start making plans and qualifying for the PartyPoker.net WPT Montreal Canadian Spring Championship from May 3rd to 9th at Playground Poker Club. The $3,000 + $300 Main Event will feature a live stream of the same caliber that covered Jonathan Roy’s victory in 2012 and both this and the November event will be Main WPT tour stops, awarding Player Of the Year points and the signature Championship Belt along with their name engraved on the coveted WPT Trophy.
While the the side schedules of events are yet to be announced, organizers are working hard at putting together a line up of varying buy-ins and disciplines sure to be well received by players.
Qualifiers and promotions will once again be offered by Party Poker for both events and begin on March 11.
In 2012, hundreds of players gained entry to WPT Montreal via satellites, with online qualifiers far exceeding expectations an guarantees. Perhaps the only complaint heard by players last year was that they didn’t start playing those available sooner.
Stay tuned for more details on Party Poker qualifiers and full schedules to come!
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The World Series of Poker will finally be heading North of the Border, Canada! A WSOP circuit event will be held at the River Rock Casino and Resort in Richmond British Columbia from October 27 to November 7, 2012 during this 9th season. WSOP Canada 2012 will be the first time that a WSOP circuit event will be held outside the United States. This is some fantastic news for poker tournament enthusiasts after hearing the big news that the World Poker Tour (WPT) will be coming back to Canada.
With 12 events in 12 days the action will be hot and heavy. Event 1 starts off with a $345 2 day event, and the series ends with Event 12 a $345 Omaha and Holdem 1 day mixed event. Event #7 is the main event, a 5 day (3 day 1s) $1,650 buyin event starting on Friday November 2. Players will start with 20,000 chips, with the structure remaining the same as other WSOP circuit main events.
All these WSOP Canada events are Ring events, so winners will take home a WSOP ring for their winning efforts. Win the WSOP Canada main event, and you will also gain entry into the National Championship, where a gold bracelet will be on the line as well as $1,000,000 prize pool in which you will be freerolled into. Next year’s 2013 WSOP National Championship will take place May 21-23, 2013 in New Orleans.
There will also be 2 online events yet to be scheduled as part of the WSOP Canada circuit. These online events will be ring events and will be played on PlayNow.com, the BC Lottery’s gaming site. For now only B.C. residents may play on PlayNow.com, but hopefully there will be an exception for these 2 wsop events so that all Canadians have a chance to win a WSOP ring online.
There is no word on satellites to WSOP Canada events yet.
More details to follow.
]]>Expanding on its mission to introduce world-class tournament poker to new players and markets around the globe, World Poker Tour is pleased to announce the addition of WPT Emperors Palace Poker Classic and WPT Montreal to its Season XI schedule.
Canada has been missing from the WPT, since the last time it was played at the Fallsview Casino and Resort in Niagara Falls. There have been many rumours of the stop coming back, but nothing ever materialized. This recent news has taken everyone by surprise, a welcome one that is.
From November 23 – 26, World Poker Tour returns to Canada for the first time since 2008 with the WPT Montreal event at the popular Playground Poker Club in Quebec. With its CAD $3,000 + $300 buy-in and opportunity for re-entry, this new WPT Main Event – sponsored by PartyPoker.net – is expected to draw some of the biggest names in the game, including Playground Poker representatives Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, and Erik Cajelais.
Unfortunately this will be a non televised event, but things could always change from now till November. There has been no word of preliminary events, but after Playground Poker Club put up a magnificent schedule up for their Playground Poker Classic, there most likely be some tournament goodness around the same time. Also no news on online satellites to WPT Montreal at Party Poker yet, but we will surely post when they start.
– Qualify for WPT Montreal on Party Poker –
]]>The Playground Poker Classic 2012 will feature 15 bracelet events, with winners receiving a beautiful bracelet for being the champ. There will be a $2200 main event where the winner will take home a championship belt. There will also be a $10k High Rollers event, where another championship belt will be given away.
Here is the 2012 PPC schedule:
No location has been announced yet but the usual list of potential locations for the Toronto Casino include; Canadian National Exhibition (CNE where current temporary casino is held), Woodbine Racetracks, Man-made island in Lake Ontario (Harbourfront), Richmond Hill, Markham, Mississauga.
In 5 years GTA poker players will no longer have to travel to Port Perry, Niagara Falls, Brantford, Sarnia, Orillia, Windsor, or Thousand Islands to play poker in Ontario. With a megacity like Toronto with a casino, it will be just a matter of time before the biggest of online poker tournaments such as the WPT, WSOP, or even smaller ones such as the CPT, HPT or DSPT come to the Tdot for a mega Toronto Poker Tournament.
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In 2012, Quebec will be the home of the biggest poker tournament ever in Canada. This tournament will be the first ever to hand out a Million Dollar prize to the lucky winner. The Grand Loto-Quebec Poker Tournament which takes on May 19th and 20th, 2012 at the Casino du Lac-Leamy in Hull Quebec is the most prestigious poker tournament ever held in Canada. This $25,000 buy-in tournament will reward the winner a seat valued at $1,000,000 to the biggest tournament in the world, The BIG ONE for ONE DROP that will be held during the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, on July 1-3, 2012.
There will be several ways other than paying the full $25k buyin to get into the Grand Tournament. You can buy-in directly at the first 4 casinos of the below list.
Satellite Tournaments will be running at various Quebec Casinos as well as on Espacejeux – The Loto Quebec online poker room. The next online satellites are Jan 9, Mar 12, and May 7 all at 8:30pm. Buy-in is $300+$20 Participating casinos include:
- Casino de Montreal
- Casino de Charlevoix
- Casino du Lac-Leamy
- Casino de Mont-Tremblant
- Salon de jeux de Quebec
- Salon de jeux de Trois-Rivieres
If you would rather rely on pure luck to get into the big tournament, there will also be $5 scratch ticket lotteries starting in Feb 2012 as well as a Second Chance lottery from Lotto Poker in April 2012 which you must register for on the Loto-Quebec website.
The Big One for One Drop
The 43rd annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) will play host to The BIG ONE for ONE DROP™ poker tournament at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino on July 1, 2 and 3, 2012, in Las Vegas. In addition to qualified participants, this poker championship will attract players from around the world and from all walks of life. Tournament registration fees are one million U.S. dollars, and the WSOP will contribute 11.1% of total collected fees to the ONE DROP® Foundation.
One Drop
ONE DROP® — an initiative of Guy Laliberté, Founder of Cirque du Soleil® — is a non-governmental organization established in Montréal, Québec, Canada, and active worldwide. The mission of ONE DROP® is to fight poverty by promoting access to water and in raising awareness among individuals and communities about water-related issues to convince them to mobilize for universal access to water and urge them to adopt sound habits for managing this precious resource for future generations. ONE DROP® continues to reach out to the world to realize its dream of safe water for all, today and tomorrow. To learn more about ONE DROP® or to make a donation, visit ONEDROP.org
On Monday November 14th at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond B.C., British Columbia’s favourite goalie to love and to hate is hosting a charity poker tournament. Vancouver Canucks all-star goaltender Roberto Luongo, along with BCLC’s PlayNow.com, their online regulated gambling website, will be hosting a poker tournament to raise support for hockey education, grassroots hockey programs, and youth health and wellness.
Here is the Roberto Luongo Charity Poker Classic Press Release:
PlayNow.com announces Roberto Luongo Charity Poker Classic
Goaltender hosts charity poker tournament at River Rock Casino Resort
Vancouver B.C., November 7, 2011 – Poker players in B.C. will have the opportunity to sit at the poker table with the Vancouver goaltender at the Roberto Luongo Charity Poker Classic.
The charity poker tournament will take place at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, B.C. on November 14, 2011.
It is estimated $80,000 will be raised to support hockey education, grassroots hockey programs and youth health and wellness in B.C. Attendees will be able to bid on items in live and silent auctions.
“This is a great opportunity to raise money for a terrific cause through a fun night of entertainment,” explained Roberto Luongo. “I enjoy getting together with friends to play poker and to have the proceeds donated to charity means a lot to everyone.”
Prizes at the charity tournament will include an estimated $45,000 prize pool as well as a number of themed prizes donated by friends of Luongo.
Would-be participants have a number of options to attend the charity tournament. Players can win entry through daily qualifying poker tournaments on PlayNow.com, running nightly until November 12 at 9 p.m. (PST).
Seats to play in the tournament are available to the public, who can purchase seats on a first-come basis through the River Rock Casino Resort by calling 604-247-8983 to register.
Buy-in to the tournament is $300, with an optional $200 charity donation which includes a complimentary stay at the River Rock Hotel, a PlayNow.com gift bag and a number of collectible items. Additional information on the tournament is available at PlayNow.com.
“This promises to be an exciting event for poker players,” added Rhonda Garvey, Vice President of eGaming, BCLC. “Whether playing Luongo online or winning entry to his charity tournament, it’s great to have such unique experiential prizes available for our players to win.”
Operated by BCLC, PlayNow.com is BC’s only legal and regulated online gambling website. PlayNow.com offers socially responsible gambling entertainment while generating income to benefit all British Columbians.
For more information please contact:
Chris Fairclough
Communications Officer
(604) 341-1935
]]>October 23 – November 9, 2011
This year there will be 4 events at the 2011 BC Poker Championships, which is double from that of 2010. The BCPC will once again be held at the River Rock Casino and Resort in Richmond B.C.
Tentative 2011 BCPC Schedule
Oct 25-28, $550 Bounty event
Oct 30-31 $1,100 event
Nov 2-5 $3,000 main event
Nov 7-9 $5,000 high rollers event
The main event will likely include 2x day 1s, followed by day 2, and the day 3 final table or so. 4 events is a much better improvement over 2010 as players now have a couple additional options, and visitors do not feel wasted traveling for just 1 or 2 events. The schedule dates have also been revised so they no longer fall on U.S. thanksgiving though this was partially done as the BC Lions are also hosting the Grey Cup during the same period late November.
The BCPC annually hosts one of the biggest prize pools for a poker tournament in Canada. It is often played by many famous and popular professional poker players, including Canadian superstar Daniel Negreanu who won it all in 2008. Last year’s winner was another Canadian by the name of Eric Place from Halifax NS. There were also some scandalous winners in the past. Sophon Sek who won the 2009 main event was arrested shortly after in connection with manslaughter charges from 2007.
As these dates and events are still tentative (according to the River Rock July tournament schedule), the confirmed information will be posted on the 2011 BC Poker Championship page.
]]>Straight from the Events calender on Party Poker, the owner of the World Poker Tour (WPT), listed for the confirmed schedule for the World Poker Tour Season 10 is the return of the WPT North American Poker Championships. (NAPC) Taking place at the Fallsview Casino and Resort in Niagara Falls, this event will run from October 10-22, 2011. With this event spanning over 13 days, it looks very promising to be an actual tournament series like the Fallsview Poker Classic. Rumours of an eventual WPT return to Niagara or even Canada have always been premature, but this looks like it could be true. Though it is not listed on the current WPT website.
Satellites for the WPT North American Poker Classic should be running soon on Party Poker. More WPT Niagara news will be posted as they become available.
Remember Party Poker still has rake free poker tournaments for another 2 weeks. Sign up today and receive a $600 bonus!
]]>This will be a 1 day only training course that will feature the following DeepStacks Pros: Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Tom McEvoy and online phenom, Tristan “Cre8ive” Wade.
The 1-Day Power Poker Course uses a unique curriculum that gives our students the ultimate poker training experience. Taught exclusively at a poker table, our pros go hand-by-hand and scenario-by-scenario to effectively teach you some of today’s most advanced poker strategies. With over 6 hours of full access to our pros, the DeepStacks Live Power Poker Course will give you the confidence to sit at any poker table, against anyone, anywhere.
Here’s what you will learn:
• Advanced Cash Game Strategies
• Advanced Tournament Strategies
• Positional Play
• Bankroll Management
• Proper Game Selection
• Advanced Betting Techiniques
• Floating Your Opponent
• Playing In and Out of Position
• Picking Off Bluffs
• And so much more!
Seating is limited, so sign-up right away!
– Signup for Deepstacks Poker Training –
Also a reminder that Satellites are still running for the Four Aces Canadian Poker Open only available at UB. The UB satellite that ran last night gave out 3 seats and there was an overlay of over $2,000. There are only 2 satellites remaining, a $320 on Thurs Jan 13 20:30 EST and a $320 on Sun Jan 16 at 20:30 EST. Both have 1 seat guarantees each.