The spectacular Niagara Falls will be the backdrop for a new top
ranked poker championship next month. World Poker Tour has confirmed
that its inaugural WPT Canadian Open championships will be hosted
at the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls on October 22-24,
just days before the WPT North American Poker Championship begins
at the same location October 25.
"We recognized the need for a major national televised
poker event that Canadians could call their own," said
Steve Lipscomb, CEO and founder of WPT Enterprises, Inc. "Canada
is rich in poker fans - both new and longstanding - who have already
embraced the WPT on their TV networks."
"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 give recreational poker players a better
chance to experience a big-time professional poker event by offering
lower buy-ins for events and satellites. Other than that, the tournament
will be run exactly like the WPT North American Poker Championships.
The buy-in for the event is Can$ 2 700. There are several satellite
tournaments available including $50 events on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays,
and Thursdays, as well as $330 events on Fridays and Saturdays until
October 21. A win at the $50 level earns the player a seat in a $330
event, and a win in the $330 event gets the player into the main event.
"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 Greg
Medulun, the manager of corporate communications for Fallsview. "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 filmed for television. The players
will play down to just six players by the end of October 24. Then
they will have to wait until the North American Poker Championship
is completed before finally sitting down to play the final table in
front of the cameras, giving the players the full WPT experience.