World Poker Tour Announces First Half of Season XIII

WPT Heads to Four Continents beginning June 5, 2014

Having just completed its 12th season and crowned its 193rd Champion, World Poker Tour announces 20 tournaments that will take place around the globe during the first half of its 13th season. The tour will take place on four continents with buys-ins appealing to every level of player.

“Season XII was a monumental year for the World Poker Tour and our partners around the globe,” said WPT President Adam Pliska. “From the WPT World Championship held for the first time at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, a 1,795 record-setting field at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, and a greater than 50% increase in our viewership on FOX Sports Networks to our new collaboration with DeepStacks Poker Tour and three multi-year partnership deals with DraftKings, Monster Headphones, and Swiss luxury watch brand Hublot, we couldn’t be happier with our expansion during Season XII or more excited about our plans for Season XIII.”

World Poker Tour Executive Tour Director Matt Savage added, “Coming off a very successful Season XII highlighted by some record-setting numbers and fantastic new locations, the World Poker Tour marches into lucky Season XIII with more new global stops and many of the great tournaments that have made the WPT the most player-friendly tour in poker.”

World Poker Tour will launch its new season of iconic poker tournaments with the Gioco Digitale WPT National Campione beginning June 5. From Italy, WPT heads to London in July for the partypoker WPT National UK: London beginning July 3 at Aspers Casino. With a buy-in of just £200, this is the most accessible event on the World Poker Tour and will surely appeal to anyone who would like to experience the WPT but may not have the bankroll for its Main Tour events.

Then, beginning July 4, World Poker Tour heads to Las Vegas for the partypoker presents: WPT500 at ARIA Resort & Casino. This $500 + $65 buy-in no-limit hold’em poker tournament will feature a guaranteed prize pool of at least $1 million, with at least $200,000 going to the winner. Players in Las Vegas can qualify for WPT500 through live satellites at ARIA, as well as tournaments on ClubWPT.com* and a plethora of online poker sites within the bwin.party Group, which will send hundreds of players from around the world to Las Vegas for this new WPT event.

Following Las Vegas, World Poker Tour heads to Spain for a festival of poker featuring two National events as part of the bwin.es WPT National Valencia beginning July 15. From Spain, World Poker Tour heads north to the Grand Casino Brussels on July 18 before heading back to the US for the WPT Regional: Western Poker Challenge at Atlantis Resort & Spa beginning August 22.

From Reno, World Poker Tour heads to California for its first televised Main Event of Season XIII, the WPT Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles beginning August 23. A staple on the tour since Season I, the WPT Legends of Poker is one of poker’s premier events, consistently drawing huge fields filled with some of the game’s best-known players, including past event winners Doyle Brunson, Dan Harrington, Will Failla, and Season IX WPT Player of the Year Andy Frankenberger.

Come September, players in Europe can join us for the partypoker WPT Merit Classic North Cyprus beginning September 5, featuring a $1 million guarantee. Shortly thereafter, players in the US can join the televised WPT Borgata Poker Open beginning September 14 and sponsored by partypoker. With 1,313 entrants during Season XII, this was one of the biggest events of the year and will surely attract another enormous field. After the final table, Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa will host the televised Monster Invitational featuring three Monster Headphones’ celebrities competing against three poker pros for the charities of their choice. During the first half of 2015, Borgata will hold two more WPT events sponsored by partypoker starting with the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open in January and then, for the second year in a row, the WPT World Championship which will take place in May.

From Atlantic City, WPT heads across the ocean to exotic Morocco for the PMU.fr WPT National Marrakech beginning October 9, followed by WPT National China and WPT National Brussels. For players in the US, World Poker Tour heads to Florida for the televised WPT bestbet Poker Scramble in Jacksonville, Florida beginning November 7.

Following Florida, World Poker Tour will host the WPT Emperors Palace Poker Classic in Johannesburg, South Africa. From Johannesburg, WPT makes a stop in Nottingham for the partypoker WPT UK, which will be held for the first time at the world-famous Dusk Till Dawn Poker Club beginning November 18. This inaugural festival represents a new strategic partnership between the World Poker Tour and Dusk Till Dawn and will kick off with a £500 buy-in event, followed by a £3,000 Main Event, both featuring a £1 million guarantee.

On November 20, World Poker Tour once again heads to Canada for the televised partypoker.net WPT Montreal at the Playground Poker Club, home to one of the biggest fields in WPT history. As the year winds down, join World Poker Tour for PMU.fr WPT National Paris at Cercle Clichy Montmartre on December 4 before heading to Las Vegas for the 13th annual WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio beginning December 15.

Look out for more World Poker Tour Main, National, WPTDeepStacks, and WPT Alpha8 events to be announced over the next few months. For the latest and most up-to-date WPT news, visit http://clubuwin.net/ and follow on Facebook.com/WorldPokerTour and Twitter @WPT.

* No purchase is necessary for the ClubWPT sweepstakes and the service is void in states where prohibited. For more information visit ClubWPT.com

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