It looks like 2011 is going to be the year of the High Roller event. With new offerings like the Aussie Millions $250,000 Super High Roller tournament and Full Tilt Poker’s Onyx Cup Series leading the way, tournaments for the richest of the rich are the new trend. The latest offering comes to us from the World Poker Tour (WPT).
On May 18th and 19th, near the tail end of the WPT Championship, the Bellagio in Las Vegas will host a $100,000 buy-in Super High Roller Event, the most expensive tournament in the storied history of the WPT. Fox Sports Net will show portions of the tournament during its broadcast of the WPT Championship.
The $25,000 WPT Championship has typically had a fairly limited field because of its price tag, but the Super High Roller event should prove to be even more exclusive. Currently, Erik Seidel, who has been dominating high roller tournaments this year, has confirmed that he will attend, as will Justin “Boosted J” Smith and Dan Shak.
Chances are that many of the world’s top pros who bust out of the WPT Championship within the first few days will join the fun, as the $100,000 tournament begins on Day 5 of the $25,000 Championship.
Steve Heller, CEO of the WPT, commented in recent press release, “Hosting a hundred thousand dollar buy-in event within the WPT Championship series means the world’s elite players have a chance to show their mettle as they battle for one of the year’s most coveted titles and one of the highest buy-in titles, all within a single week.”
The high roller tournament is nothing new to the World Poker Tour, but as already noted, the Tour has never seen this level of buy-in. Most recently, the WPT Vienna stop at the end of March featured a €10,000 High Roller tournament, which was high compared to the Main Event’s €3,500 buy-in. Prior to that, there was a $25,000 High Roller event at the L.A. Poker Classic.
Including the Super High Roller Event and Main Event, there will be a total of 16 contests at the WPT Championship, which runs from May 6th to May 20th. The Main Event will begin about halfway through the entire festival, with Day 1 commencing on May 14th. For those without the $25,000 + $500 to plunk down for the buy-in, there will be live satellites running at the Bellagio.
In the meantime, the next WPT Main Event is at the Hollywood Poker Open. The tournament begins this Saturday and is scheduled to conclude with the televised final table on April 13th. Buy-in plus entry fee will be $9,600 + $400 and registration will remain open until the start of Day 2.
The final WPT stop before the WPT Championship is the Seminole Hard Rock Showdown at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The $9,600 + $400 Main Event will kick off later this month on April 27th. This is the only WPT event in the United States in which players as young as 18 years old are permitted to enter.
