With the New Year just 113 days away, the World Poker Tour® today unveiled five additional Main Tour events for Season XIII in 2015. The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino bookends the five events with the WPT® Lucky Hearts Poker Open and the $5 million guarantee WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, and the California Swing is sandwiched in the middle, featuring Main Events at the Commerce Casino, Bay 101 Casino, and Thunder Valley Casino Resort.
- WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open (Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, February 5-11, 2015)
- WPT L.A. Poker Classic* (Commerce Casino, February 28 – March 5, 2015)
- WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star* (Bay 101 Casino, March 9-13, 2015)
- WPT Rolling Thunder (Thunder Valley Casino Resort, March 14-18, 2015)
- $5 million guarantee WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown* (Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, April 16-22, 2015)
*Denotes televised event
After the televised WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open sponsored by partypoker.com and BorgataPoker.com wraps up on January 30, the World Poker Tour travels down the East Coast for the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Following Florida, the second annual California Swing kicks off at the iconic Commerce Casino with the WPT L.A. Poker Classic. The Commerce has played host to the World Poker Tour for all 12 seasons, and has crowned celebrated champions like Gus Hansen, Antonio Esfandiari, Michael Mizrachi, and Phil Ivey. Following LAPC is the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star, a unique event featuring some of the best fans in poker, and WPT Thunder Valley, a player-favorite event making its much-anticipated return in 2015. The player who accrues the most points at these three fantastic venues wins:
- Up to six nights stay at the Crowne Plaza, complimentary ground transportation, and a complimentary massage at the Meridian Spa for the Season XIV WPT L.A. Poker Classic
- Shooting Star status and complimentary air travel from Los Angeles or Las Vegas for the Season XIV WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star
- Up to five nights stay in a suite and a $500 room credit for the Season XIV WPT Rolling Thunder.
The WPT then returns to the Sunshine State for the $5 million guarantee WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. In Season XII, this exciting event generated a total of 1,795 entries and Eric Afriat emerged victorious, banking $1,081,184. Mukul Pahuja finished runner up, earning $691,965, and was later crowned the Season XII WPT Player of the Year.
As mentioned, the season concludes at Borgata with the $15,400 buy-in WPT World Championship. Keven Stammen outlasted a field of 328 entries in the Season XII WPT World Championship, earning $1,3500,000. He also took home Hublot King Power Unico Watch and a pair of 24K® Monster headphones, both of which will be awarded to the winner of every televised event for the remainder of the season.
“With Season XIII underway, I’m already looking forward to the second half of the schedule. Soon enough the WPT Player of the Year race will heat up, and we’ll see the best players in the game travel to all of the premiere properties on the World Poker Tour and compete on the biggest stages in poker,” said WPT Executive Tour Director Matt Savage. “I will once again be the tournament director of the California Swing, which was won by Michael Rocco in Season XII. Michael will enjoy several special amenities during the three Main Events this season, including 10 nights free accommodation at the Commerce Casino’s Crowne Plaza Hotel, a one-way private jet to San Jose from either Los Angeles or Las Vegas and Shooting Star status at Bay 101, and up to five nights in a free suite at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort with $500 in food and beverage credits during WPT Rolling Thunder.”
For your convenience, we’ve listed all of the remaining stops for Season XIII below. Be sure to follow the WPT on Twitter and like us on Facebook to keep up with any adjustments that may be made.
*Denotes televised event
**Pending regulatory approval