The World Poker Tour announced today that the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls will play host to the first-ever WPT Canadian Open. The tournament is set to take place on Oct. 22-24, with the WPT North American Poker Championship to follow at the same locale on Oct. 25.“We recognized the need for a major national televised poker event that Canadians could call their own,� explained WPTE founder and CEO, Steve Lipscomb. “Canada is rich with poker fans, both new and long-standing, who have already embraced the WPT on their TV networks.�
Lipscomb added, “They have watched several of their own rise to the top on the World Poker Tour, including Gavin Smith, the Season IV WPT Player of the Year, and Daniel Negreanu, the Season III WPT Player of the year. We look forward to working in concert with the Fallsview Casino to establish the WPT Canadian Open as the premiere poker event in Canada.�
The WPT Canadian Open will offer lower buy-in events to give amateur poker players the chance at experiencing big-time professional poker action. The tournament itself however, will be run precisely as the WPT North American Poker Championships. The buy-in for the event is set at $2,700 CAD, with several satellite tournaments available, including $50 events which will run Sundays thru Thursdays, as well as $330 events on Fridays and Saturdays until Oct. 21. A win at the $50 level will earn the player a seat in the $330 and a victory in that event will send the player into the main event. Satellite events are currently underway at the Fallsview Casino and in poker rooms at participating Ontario Lottery and Gaming casinos as well as charity casinos.ÂÂ
“Players taking part in the WPT Canadian Open will experience everything the professional WPT players experience, the bright lights, the TV cameras, the pressure, everything,� said the Fallsview Casino’s manager of corporate communications, Greg Medulun. “Playing online and in regular casino games is one thing, but sitting where the stars sit with all eyes on you is quite another.�
The Canadian Open final table will be recorded for television. At the end of Oct. 24 there will be six players left remaining in the tournament. The remaining six will then have to wait until the completion of the North American Poker Championship before taking a seat at the televised final table, giving the players the total WPT experience.
-Ryan Wallace