The International Poker Players Association (IPPA) will present a championship event later this year with the biggest buy-in the world has ever seen. The Monte Carlo IPPA Championship, scheduled for Nov. 29 to Dec. 2, will be a $250,000 buy-in No Limit Hold-em Shootout featuring a prize pool of $12 million, with the winner taking home $5 million. Players participating in the televised event will be referred to as the “Elite 48.”
“This is the player’s championship, the pièce de résistance,” said IPPA President and CEO Yosh Nakano.
Thirteen of the biggest names in poker have already registered for the highly anticipated event: Johnny Chan, Freddy Deeb, Tony G, Bruno Fitoussi, Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, Allen Cunningham, Gus Hansen, John Hennigan, Phil Ivey, Huck Seed, Robert Mizrachi, and 2010 November Niner Michael Mizrachi. The field is also expected to consist of three sponsor exemptions and two qualifiers, including one from Los Angeles’ Bicycle Casino.
Players will have the opportunity to qualify for the high-roller event in a new satellite format called the Equity Rebuy Shootout. The first round of the shootout is played 10-handed, with the winners getting their $1,000 buy-in back and moving on to the second round. Players that busted out then have the option to rebuy for the value of a second-round seat.
“For as little as $1,000 – less if you win a satellite – a player can play in a qualifier and have an opportunity to win the $5 million first-place prize at the Monte Carlo IPPA Championship,” said Nakano, who worked several years as the poker manager at the Bicycle Casino.
The inaugural $250,000 IPPA Championship was supposed to take place last year, but ended up being canceled. The 2009 version featured H.O.R.S.E. and two rounds of No Limit Hold’em, but in order to gain more interest from players and television viewers, this year’s tournament will be No Limit Hold’em only.
According to Nanoko, the goal is to create a tournament with a deep structure that will allow the cream to rise to the top. “We wanted to produce a high-end poker tournament that offered a big buy-in event with quality play. We felt that we could do a good job at putting an event together that would provide the best all-around player in the world.”
Should the event happen this year, it will be the largest buy-in poker tournament by a long shot. The current leader took place in January 2010 at the Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge, where 24 players participated to create a prize pool of $2.4 million. Dan Shak bested Ivey heads-up to win a prize of $1.2 million. Ivey took home $600,000, while Billy Jordanou ($300,000), Tony Bloom ($200,000), and Tony G ($100,000) also cashed.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for further news on the Monte Carlo IPPA Championship.
You can’t just have a $250K buy-in poker tournament. Wow!