Top Stories of 2023, #9: WPT Becomes a True Challenger in US Live Poker Space
The World Poker Tour (WPT) entered 2023 on a high note having successfully executed the first-ever WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas in December 2022. That event would go on to win Event of the Year at the Global Poker Awards, while the Wynns Ray Pulford nabbed Tournament Director of the Year due in no small part to executing that tournament.
The WPT joining forces with Wynn Las Vegas, which is largely viewed as the best place to play poker in Las Vegas, proved to be a powerful alliance. Back that with ClubWPT reaching a largely recreational demographic, and the coffers of WPT Global adding a beneficial online element, and the WPT became even more powerful within the industry in 2023. So much so that many feel its giving the World Series of Poker (WSOP) a run for its money.
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Another Strong WPT Championship
The WPT World Championship Festival is barely in the rearview mirror, and while the $10,400 buy-in WPT World Championship failed to hit its $40,000,000 guarantee it fell about $2.4 million short it was still a tremendous success with 3,835 entrants. That was an approximately 33% year-over-year growth (the 2022 WPT World Championship had 2,960 runners).
The winner of the event was Indiana's Dan Sepiol, who bested a 52nd place finish in the inaugural WPT World Championship with a seven-figure payday at this year's event.
| Rank | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Sepiol | $5,282,954* |
| 2 | Georgios Sotiropoulos | $4,167,246* |
| 3 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $2,798,700 |
| 4 | Chris Moorman | $2,095,300 |
| 5 | Ben Heath | $1,583,100 |
| 6 | Artur Martirosian | $1,207,000 |
Meanwhile, a full schedule of side events awarded millions more dollars in prize money such as the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop, Alpha8, and WPT Ladies Championship.
On the Heels of a Strong Season
For the 2023 season, the WPT hosted eight Main Tour stops with Florida being its primary stomping grounds thanks to a pair of stops at the Seminole Hard Rock and one at bestbet Jacksonville. There were also two in California at Thunder Valley and Gardens while the WPT World Championship once again took place in Las Vegas. Additionally, there was a single international Main Tour stop in Sydney, Australia.
While eight stops isnt exactly a robust schedule, the WPT is once again building after the pandemic shook up the live poker landscape, especially in the United States. The WPT has already released its schedule for the first part of 2024, and dont be surprised if more stops are added in the latter half.
Could either classic stops at the Borgata, Playground, and Commerce, or maybe new stops in hot poker locales like Texas and the Midwest be on the table? Only time will tell.
| Month | Event | Location | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | $3,500 WPT Rolling Thunder | California | 590 | $1,888,000 | Scott Eskenazi | $361,660 |
| April | $3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown | Florida | 2,290 | $7,328,000 | Bin Weng | $1,128,250 |
| May | $3,800 WPT Choctaw | Oklahoma | 612 | $2,142,000 | Jared Jaffee | $400,740 |
| May | $5,250 WPT Gardens Poker Championship | California | 346 | $1,678,100 | Ky Nguyen | $357,380 |
| September | AUD $8,000 WPT Australia | Sydney | 600 | $2,896,515 USD | Richard Lee | $550,267 |
| November | $5,000 WPT bestbet Scramble | Florida | 365 | $1,660,750 | Frederic Normand | $351,650 |
| November | $3,500 WPT Seminole Rock N Roll Poker Open | Florida | 1,447 | $4,630,400 | Istvan Briski | $647,300 |
| December | $10,400 WPT World Championship | Nevada | 3,835 | $40,000,000 | TBD | $5,678,000 |
In addition to the Main Tour, the mid-major WPT Prime season was a success featuring $1,000-$1,500 buy-ins. In 2023, there were 14 WPT Prime stops all across the globe. In fact, there was only one in the United States and that was at the WPT World Championship.
The $1,100 buy-in tournament had a $5 million guarantee, but the prize pool hit $10,196,640 with 10,512 entrants, nearly double last year's turnout when Stephen Song won it for $712,650. Song's payout in 2022 barely would have beat third-place money this year.
In the end, it was Calvin Anderson winning the WPT Prime Championship for $1,386,280, which you can read about in full here.
Heres a look at the WPT Prime winners from 2023:
| Month | Event | Location | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1,100 WPT Prime Paris | France | 1,071 | $1,127,645 | Fabrice Bigot | $194,390 |
| March | AUD$2,000 WPT Prime Gold Coast | Australia | 1,224 | AUD$2,203,200 | Sheng Ye | $253,843 |
| March | $1,100 WPT Prime Cambodia | Cambodia | 1,011 | $980,670 | Reiji Kono | $131,731 |
| March | 1,100 WPT Prime Amsterdam | Netherlands | 1,000 | $1,050,248 | Philip Hollederer | $186,178 |
| April | 65,000 WPT Prime India | India | 857 | $618,832 | Prasit Chowdhury | $105,809 |
| May | 1,100 WPT Prime Slovakia | Slovakia | 552 | 529,920 | Sandor Mate | $118,964 |
| May | VND25,000,000 WPT Prime Vietnam | Vietnam | 1,151 | $1,079,611 | Duy Thuc Nguyen | $177,764 |
| May | $1,060 WPT Prime Spring Festival | WPT Global | 218 | $218,000 | - | - |
| June | 1,100 WPT Prime Sanremo | Italy | 838 | $860,830 | Simone Andrian | $157,973 |
| August | 1,100 WPT Prime Aix-en-Provence | France | 457 | $482,592 | Samy Boujmala | $102,938 |
| August | TWD33,000 WPT Prime Taiwan | Taiwan | 1,359 | $1,237,387 | Seonguk Huh | $197,741 |
| September | CHF1,100 WPT Prime Liechtenstein | Lichtenstein | 1,644 | $1,841,280 | David Kozma | $300,541 |
| September | 1,100 WPT Prime Madrid | Spain | 396 | $387,858 | Oscar Gironella | $73,840 |
| December | $1,100 WPT Prime Championship | Las Vegas | 10,512 | $10,196,640 | Calvin Anderson | $1,386,280 |
WPT Player of the Year
The 2023 WPT Player of the Year race wasnt that close. Bin Weng won the second stop of the season, and he went on to crush the WPT and the poker world as a whole (hes going to win the GPI Player of the Year). On the WPT, Weng amassed 2,175 points thanks to five cashes for $3,513,004, which included two final table appearances and the aforementioned $3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown win for $1,128,250.
That also included a summer win over 1,676 entries in the $10,500 buy-in WPT EveryOne for One Drop at Wynn for $2,227,054.
2023 WPT Player of the Year Leaderboard
| Rank | Player | Points | WPT Earnings | Cashes | Final Tables | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bin Weng | 2,175 | $3,513,004 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | Calvin Anderson | 1,600 | $1,650,434 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Istvan Briski | 1,425 | $667,500 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Aaron Pinson | 1,250 | $910,000 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Jared Jaffe | 1,225 | $432,082 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | David ozma | 1,200 | $312,320 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Scott Eskenazi | 1,175 | $384,460 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Sri Sangannagari | 1,150 | $745,000 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | Jay Lu | 1,125 | $696,200 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Richard Lee | 1,100 | $550,267 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Gamble, Weng & Coleman Win at WPT World Championship Festival; Leah Claims 2nd Trophy
Whats Next for the WPT?
The WPT confirmed the first half of next year's schedule, issuing the date for twelve WPT and WPT Prime events in the first six months of 2024.
The schedule has three U.S. stops on itone each at the Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, OK; the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood in Hollywood, FL; and Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, CA. The international stops include a Virgin Voyages cruise ship in the Caribbean (WPT Voyage and WPT Voyage Prime) and multiple stops in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia.
As we approach both the end of Season XXI and the WPT World Championship, we are proud to share the schedule for the first half of Season XXII, WPT CEO Adam Pliska told the press. We worked vigorously with our casino partners to solidify dates for these impressive, value-packed festivals so that players can plan their 2024 schedules.
If you are in the process of planning your 2024 poker calendar, the first event to pay attention to is the WPT Cambodia at NagaWorld in Phnom Penh. The WPT Cambodia festival dates are confirmed as January 17-30, with the main eventthe WPT Cambodia $3,500 Championshipkicking off on January 25.
Meanwhile, players in the U.S. get their first shot at a WPT Main Tour event in March, with the return of WPT Rolling Thunder to Thunder Valley Casino Resort in sunny California on March 7.
Of particular interest, this coming year is the first-ever WPT Voyage and WPT Prime Voyage festivals. These overlapping events will take place aboard Virgin Voyages ship the Valiant Lady.
This 1,400-cabin cruise ship is set to pull out of the Port of Miami on March 31, carrying a cargo of poker players with it. The ship is set to return to Miami on April 6, with new WPT and WPT Prime champions aboard.
In Europe, there will be four WPT stops, one each in France (WPT Prime Aix-en-Provence from January 26 to February 5), the Netherlands (WPT Prime Amsterdam from March 15 to 23), Slovakia (WPT Prime Slovakiamain event starts April 11), and the mid-season finale in Sanremo (WPT Prime Sanremomain event starts June 6). All four events are within the Schengen area for maximum convenience.
Another popular event is likely to be the third ever WPT Prime Vietnam, which returns to the Crown Poker Club in Hanoi, Vietnam for a 25,000,000 ($1,062) Championship scheduled for May 23.
Check out the full schedule below to make sure you don't miss a thing.
Read more about the 2024 WPT Prime schedule here
World Poker Tour Season XXII First Half Schedule of Main Events
| Date | Festival | Buy-in | Venue | City |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 25 | WPT Cambodia | $3,500 | NagaWorld Integrated Resort | Phnom Penh, Cambodia |
| Feb 1 | WPT Prime Aix-en-Provence | 1,100 ($1,199) | Pasino Grand | Aix-en-Provence, France |
| Mar 19 | WPT Prime Amsterdam | 1,100 ($1,199) | Holland Casino | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Mar 23 | WPT Rolling Thunder | $3,500 | Thunder Valley Casino | Lincoln, CA |
| Mar 31 | WPT Voyage | $1,100 | Virgin Voyages | Caribbean |
| Mar 31 | WPT Prime Voyage | $5,000 | Virgin Voyages | Caribbean |
| Apr 11 | WPT Prime Slovakia | 1,100 ($1,199) | Card Casino Bratislava | Bratislava, Slovakia |
| Apr 18 | WPT Prime Gold Coast | AU$2,000 ($1,263) | The Star Gold Coast | Gold Coast, Australia |
| Apr 19 | WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown | $3,500 | Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood | Hollywood, FL |
| May 3 | WPT Choctaw | $3,800 | Choctaw Casino Resort | Durant, OK |
| May 23 | WPT Prime Vietnam | 25,000,000 ($1,062) | Crown Poker Club | Hanoi, Vietnam |
| Jun 6 | WPT Prime Sanremo | 1,100 ($1,199) | Casino di Sanremo | Sanremo, Italy |
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