The WPT Asia Swing continues today with WPT Korea starting up Paradise City Casino, Incheon, Seoul. Along with the first WPT event in the Seoul region, WPT Korea marks the premiere of the WPT Global Teams Event.
14 four-player teams from across the globe are partnering for a series of six tournaments from September 19-21. Entry for each team is $5,000 and games featured in the schedule are No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha. All team members receive equal playing time on the felt.
Teams hail from North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia to make this inaugural event as global as WPT itself.
Notable players in the event include Pete Chen from Team Taiwan. Chen joined the Champions Club in Season XVI when he won the WPT Beijing event and became the first Main Tour winner in China.
Also in action are two WPT Champions Club Members on the Team USA roster. Sam Panzica and Dylan Wilkerson frequently spar in Main Tour events and now matchup together against the best the world has to offer. Panzica won the bestbet Bounty Scramble and Bay 101 Shooting Star in Season XV to cement his place as one of the best young talents in the world. Wilkerson took second at Bay 101 in Season XII and won his title at the Emperors Palace Poker Classic in Johannesburg, South Africa in Season XIII.
Another face who some might remember from the Season XVI WPT Legends of Poker event is Japanese music sensation GACKT. Japan includes GACKT on their roster and will have plenty of social media support from his millions of followers.
Rosters
Australia
Wayde Rickhuss (Captain)
Frank Marino
Martin Shlemon
Trong Hieu Nguyen
China
Dong Guo
Yang Zhang
Guoliang Wei
Xixiang Luo
Hong Kong
Sparrow Cheung (Captain)
Edward Yam
Danny Tang
Vincent Kwun Ngai Li
India
Nikita Luther (Captain)
Kunal Patni
Dhaval Mudgal
Amit Jain
Japan
GACKT
Takumi Samejima
Harunobu Kojima
Hiroki Kato
Korea
Calvin Lee
Daniel Lee
Jimmy Lee
Hyunsik Yun
Malaysia
Victor Chong (Captain)
Michael Soyza
Ivan Leow Seng Yee
Webster Lim Chin Wei
Netherlands
Martijn Gerrits
Luigi Knoppers,
Bas de Laat
Joep Raemaekers
Norway
Henrik Tollefsen
Markus Garberg
Orjan Skommo
Robert Kaggerud
New Zealand
Thomas Ward (Captain)
Jack Efaraimo (Godfather)
Alicia Tangiiti
Paul Hockin
Singapore
Bryan Huang (Captain)
Calvin Tan
Phua Tzaiwei
Tyler Tan
Taiwan
Pete Chen (Captain)
Chen An Lin
Fubon Huang
Leon Li-ta Hsu
UK
Sam Razavi (Captain)
Simon Burns
Ricky Cheung
Nick Woodward
USA
Dylan Wilkerson (Captain)
Sam Panzica
Ging Masinda
Caitlyn Howe / Rex Clinkscales*
* Rex Clinkscales is the official fourth member of Team United States, but he won’t be arriving until September 20. In the meantime, WPT Royal Flush Crewmember Caitlyn Howe will be serving as a one-day substitute, and all of the other team captains graciously approved this substitution before play began.
The schedule of events is as follows:
Wednesday, September 19
– 12 p.m. – Event 1: 9-Max No-Limit Hold’em
– 5 p.m. – Event 2: Heads-Up Poker (three players for No Limit Hold’em and one player for Pot Limit Omaha)
Thursday, September 20
– 12 p.m. – Event 3: Pot Limit Omaha (two players) and Tag Team (two players)
– 6 p.m. – Event 4: Six-Max No Limit Hold’em
Friday, September 21
– 12 p.m. – Event 5: Turbo No Limit Hold’em
– 5 p.m. – Final Event: No Limit Hold’em
Format
For Events 1, 2, 4, and 5, four separate tournaments will be held concurrently. For Event 3, three separate tournaments will be held concurrently. During the concurrent tournaments, one team member from each team will play in an individual tournament, with the exception being in the Tag Team that requires two players alternating and playing the same chip stack.
For Event 5, the field of teams will be reduced down to 12. For the Final Event, the field will be reduced down to nine teams.
Starting chip stacks will be 10,000 chips for events leading up to the Final Event. In the Final Event, qualifying teams will receive starting chips reflective of their point total through five events multiplied by 1,000. In the Final Event, teams will provide a sealed envelope to nominate starting with a full stack or half the full stack with a second chance option. The second half of the stack can only be taken after busting or at the end of a predetermined level.
In the Final Event, team members will rotate every 20 minutes and all four players must play once every four 20-minute periods. Team captains select the play order. After four rounds, the order can change as players can be shuffled. At four teams left, two members per team will play and alternate each round.
The Action Clock provided by Protection Poker will be in play for the Final Event.
Stay tuned to WPT.com for all Live Updates on the first Global Teams Event in the history of the World Poker Tour.
For more information on WPT Korea, check out the event hub on WPT.com.