How do you top the record setting largest tournament field for a $1,000+ entry here in Canada? You come back with not one, but two more opportunities in 2013 for players to compete in a World Poker Tour event at Playground Poker Club, located just 20 minutes from downtown Montreal.

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!