On Monday, the World Poker Tour (WPT) announced a new partnership with 888poker which will result in two more events being added to this year’s WPTDeepStacks Europe schedule. The three year deal will see 888poker become a co-sponsor of events and run online qualifiers for them on its site.
Malta will be the first new stop – called 888poker WPTDeepStacks Malta – and will be held at Casino Malta from April 8th through April 14th. The Main Event, running April 11th through the end of the festival, will cost €1,000 and have a €200,000 guaranteed prize pool.
Later in the year will be 888poker WPTDeepStacks Portugal, hosted by Casino Solverde Vilamoura September 2nd through September 8th. The Main Event, September 5th through September 8th, will be a little bit more expensive than Malta’s, a €1,200 buy-in with a €250,000 guaranteed prize pool.
Though both new stops will be in this calendar year, 888poker WPTDeepStacks Malta will be held during the current season, while 888poker WPTDeepStacks Portugal, by nature of it not being until September, is on next season’s schedule.
“WPTDeepStacks Europe looks forward to partnering with 888poker for our events over the next three years starting with WPTDeepStacks Malta and WPTDeepStacks Portugal,” said Hermance Blum, WPT VP Europe, in a press release. “WPT has no doubt the addition of 888poker will greatly increase visibility at WPTDeepStacks locations across Europe.”
Angelica Hael, VP of Global Tour Management at the World Poker Tour, added, “888poker is one of the global leaders in creating positive experiences for players, and the World Poker Tour is excited to work with the great team at 888poker at our upcoming events.”
Still Four-Figures, But a Bit More Affordable
WPTDeepStacks is the World Poker Tour’s “mid-major” tour, of sorts. There are many more WPTDeepStacks tour stops than there are stops on the Main Tour and each event comes in at a lower price point. The Main Events tend to be in the $1,000/€1,000 to $1,500/€1,500 buy-in range. While several of the WPTDeepStacks venues are the same as on the main tour – places like Thunder Valley Casino Resort, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Casino Sochi, most are at other venues that are not as well known to poker players and in cities that are often ignored on major poker tours. It is kind of like the World Series of Poker Circuit of the WPT.
WPTDeepStacks Brussels, hosted by Grand Casino Brussels Viage, just completed this weekend. The next stop is a familiar one, bestbet Jacksonville with WPTDeepStacks Jacksonville.
Guy Cohen, 888 Holdings’ Senior Vice President of B2C, said in the press release, “We are very excited to extend our relationship with the World Poker Tour by sponsoring an additional two events in Malta and Portugal. At 888poker, we strive to create a product that offers an engaging experience to all poker players and we are looking forward to launching our poker product in Portugal soon.”
