2010-2011 World Poker Tour Schedule Takes Shape

On July 11th, the 2010-2011 World Poker Tour (WPT) schedule will kick off with the annual running of the Bellagio Cup in Las Vegas. Its $10,300 buy-in is down from $15,400 last year, when PokerStars pro Alexandre Gomes took home the title and $1.2 million first place prize.

Next on the docket is the Bicycle Casino’s Legends of Poker, slated for August 20th to 25th. The $5,200 buy-in is half of last year’s price tag. In 2009, 279 players turned out and poker rapper Prahlad Friedman came out on top to bank a little over $1 million. After a trip across “The Pond” to London, WPT officials will return to U.S. soil on September 19th for the Borgata Poker Open. The $3,500 buy-in event is the cheapest on the 2010-2011 WPT schedule.

Last year at the Borgata, the $3,500 buy-in tournament attracted a massive starting grid of 1,018 players and Olivier Busquet emerged as its champion to collect $925,000. On October 18th, the WPT Festa al Lago will mark the tournament series’ second stop at the Bellagio, where a $10,400 buy-in Main Event will play out. In 2009, the Festa al Lago had a $15,400 buy-in and ended with Tommy Vedes taking home his first WPT title along with $1.2 million.

From October 28th to November 2nd, the Foxwoods World Poker Finals will pan out from the forests of Connecticut. This is one of the few tournaments on the 2010-2011 slate of events that carries the same buy-in as last year, an even $10,000. Cornel Andrew Cimpan took down the annual stop at Foxwoods last year for just over $900,000.

From December 13th to 19th, the WPT returns to its roots in Las Vegas at the Bellagio for the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Last year, this event carried a $15,400 buy-in. This time around, the price of poker has been slashed to $10,400. The event attracted a field of 329 players in 2009, with Daniel Alaei coming out on top for $1.4 million.

The Southern Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi remains relatively unchanged for 2011. The action starts on January 23rd at the Gulf Coast casino and concludes four days later. In 2010, DoylesRoom pro Hoyt Corkins trumped the field for $739,000.

From Mississippi, the WPT will pick up shop and head west to Los Angeles for the Commerce Casino’s Celebrity Invitational and L.A. Poker Classic. The latter begins on February 25th and has a $10,000 buy-in, the same as in 2010. However, the 2010 tournament carried a $300 juice, whereas this season’s installment bumps the casino’s rake to $400.

The final 2010-2011 WPT stop listed on the tour’s website is the Bay 101 Shooting Star event, penciled in for March 14th to 18th. The event has a $10,000 buy-in, with the juice having been lowered from $500 in 2010 to $400 in 2011. The unique California bounty tournament featured McLean Karr winning during Season 8 to take home $878,000.

Dates for the 2011 Hollywood Poker Open and WPT Championship were not available at press time. Carlos Mortensen became the WPT’s all-time money leader after taking down the former in March for nearly $400,000, while David Williams brought home the title in the WPT Championship in April before parting ways with Bodog. According to WPT officials, both tournaments will be held during the upcoming season.

The new season of the WPT kicked off with the Grand Prix de Paris last month. The Party Gaming-owned WPT has already announced three events outside of the United States:

WPT London Poker Classic
August 30th to September 4th, 2010
Palm Beach Casino
London, England

WPT Marrakech
November, 2010
Casino de Marrakech
Hivernage, Marrakech

WPT Amneville
November 2nd to 6th, 2010
Casino Municipal D Amneville
Amneville, France

The London Poker Classic, brand new to the 2010-2011 schedule, will come complete with a High Roller Event. No information has been released as to whether the WPT will continue to air on Fox Sports Net, but an announcement is expected before the Bellagio Cup. The WPT has appeared on the sports-oriented station for the last two years. What is certain, however, is that Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten will return to call the action from the felts.

The WPT is fresh off introducing Matt Savage as its Tour Director, which has created a considerable buzz entering Season 9. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for more WPT headlines.