The second running of the Winter Bayou Poker Challenge at Harrah’s New Orleans is shaping up to be bigger than ever. This time around, the tournament series boasts 15 events in total, up from 10 during the 2007 installment. The action in the Big Easy begins on December 1st and will run through December 10th.
In a press release distributed by Harrah’s officials, Jim Hoskins, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Harrah’s New Orleans, commented, “We know that today’s poker player has many options about where to go and play. So, this year we decided to pack 15 tournaments into ten straight days of non-stop action. On most days, we are offering two major tournaments. This will allow our players considerably more options and a greater opportunity to have a good time and hopefully win some prize money.”
The culmination of the tournament series is the $5,150 buy-in Main Event, which kicks off on Monday, December 8th and runs for three days. The final table will occur at 2:00pm local time on the 10th. Here’s a look at the schedule of the 15 major events. All times are Central:
Event 1: Monday, December 1st at 12:00 Noon
No Limit Hold’em, $200 +$30 buy-in
Event 2: Tuesday, December 2nd at 12:00 Noon
No Limit Hold’em, $300 +$40 buy-in
Event 3: Wednesday, December 3rd at 12:00 Noon
No Limit Hold’em, $300 +$40 buy-in
Event 4: Thursday, December 4th at 12:00 Noon
No Limit Hold’em, $500+$50 buy-in
Event 5: Thursday, December 4th at 3:00pm
Seven Card Stud, $300 +$40 buy-in
Event 6: Friday, December 5th at Noon
No Limit Hold’em, $500+$50 buy-in
Event 7: Saturday, December 6th at Noon
No Limit Hold’em, $1,000+$80 buy-in
Event 8: Sunday, December 7th at Noon
Ladies No Limit Hold’em, $200+$30 buy-in
Event 9: Monday, December 8th
Satellite Championship (Three Days), $5000+$150 buy-in
The other six events in the Winter Bayou Poker Challenge are comprised of nightly No Limit Hold’em tournaments. The buy-in for these events on December 1st through 4th is $175+$25. The buy-in for these events on the 5th and 6th is $300+$40. Each of these No Limit Hold’em events begins at 10:00pm local time.
As you can tell from the schedule above, the presence of a Ladies Event means that the Winter Bayou Poker Challenge is focusing on bringing more women to the tournament series in 2008. Moreover, the casino will be holding a seminar hosted by one of the top women in all of poker, three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Barbara Enright. That event will take place on Saturday, December 6th from 9:00am until 11:30am in The Manor Room.
In addition, each tournament will award more starting chips to its contestants this year. Hoskins commented, “One thing that our players consistently tell us is that they want more chips to start the tournament. In some cases, we have doubled the number of starting chips over what was done previously. This will allow players more bang for their tournament buck.” For players wishing to play deep-stack poker without shoveling out a ton of cash, $340 and $550 mega-satellites are available nightly at 6:00pm. A Mega-Satellite Day is scheduled for Sunday, December 7th, but remains subject to Louisiana State approval. The schedule for Mega-Satellite Day features $550 tournaments at 1:00pm, 4:00pm, and 8:00pm.
Hotel rooms are available at Intercontinental New Orleans for $79 per night. The Wyndham Riverfront Hotel has rooms available for $89 per night. Interested parties must ask for the World Series of Poker rate in order to be eligible.
