The WSOP is returning to Australia as part of its global competitive series. Sydney will again whip up excitement among players from across the globe.
WSOP likes the Australian capital. And the feelings seem to be mutual. The venue is easily one of the most recognizable bastions of poker on a global scale. The world’s largest tournament host is bringing back the popular International Series back again.
No effort will be stinted, too, with the hosts having chosen The Star Sydney’ Melbourne’s second-largest casino after Crown, to set up the event for the eye-popping A $4.5 million in guaranteed money, but the amount is expected to swell past the original forecasts.
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Satellites on now!https://t.co/al8coPsPxY pic.twitter.com/7YcjkJt7Yg
— Star Poker Sydney (@StarPokerSydney) November 8, 2018
There will be the logistical challenges of appealing to potential participants from across the globe and with the event kicking off on November 27, anyone who wants to join will have to think quickly. The event will be running through December 17, allowing people to spend well over 2 weeks playing poker day in and day out.
A special extra that WSOP has seen fit to offer is the WSOP Gold Rings, which will be exclusively made for the event and hopefully give people a bit of an incentive in deciding whether to attend or not. Even then, the event’s strongest appeal will be the money that will go as direct awards.
The Star has played host to the event last year when it concluded the 2017th edition in December, and some of the tournaments drew in as many as 1,300 entries. The Star has also assisted with other notable events, including the $2.5 million 2017 WSOP Global Casino Championship.
Last year, we also saw a lot of re-entries well halfway through the competition, with great buy-ins rarely soaring beyond A$250. This year, tough, the entry levels have been adjusted to be slightly more expensive, although the potential benefit a skilled player can get out of tackling the Main Event or topping the field of high rollers still outweighs the mild increase.
Quite a few people cared a name for themselves, with Brendon Rube becoming the $5,000 Champion and Craig Bright secured the Masters Evet.
Meanwhile, the first leg of the 2018 race promises to be also one of the most significant ones, which could be also a clever way on the part of hosts to excite interest and have everyone arrive for the big money as early as they possibly can.
The money that will go in the prize pool for the opening event on Tuesday, November 27 are A$600,000, enough to bring out the local pros and players who have been grinding online. The hosts have reiterated their original suggestion that massive crowds are expected to arrive at The Star for yet another year driving up the total rewards.
Nearly half of the officially published figure will go directly for the Main Event, which is the center piece of the upcoming competition. The 2017 edition saw 1,067 players pay the entry fee and compete for a shot at the big money. In the end, it was Michael Kanaan who secured a resounding victory and walking away with the bulk of the award.
Much good work has been done by The Star themselves, estimates Gregory Chochon who is presently head of the organization Mr. Chochon has commended the efforts of The Stars in hosting previous editions and expects that the 2018 edition to be no different.