When the 2014 World Poker Tour World Championship, sponsored by partypoker, kicks off on April 21 in its new location of Atlantic City, Season XII WPT Champions, top poker professionals and amateur hopefuls – including New Jersey online qualifiers – will sit down at the tables of Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. There they will battle it out for the biggest title of the year and a share of the guaranteed $5 million prize pool, including its first place cash prize of at least $1.35 million.
Held outside of Las Vegas for the first time in its history, the televised Championship also offers a new, more accessible buy-in of $15,400 and will allow players who bust Day 1A a single re-entry opportunity on Day 1B.
“After 11 years in Las Vegas, we saw an interesting opportunity to shake things up and update our iconic Championship,” said WPT President Adam Pliska. “With the move to New Jersey, the lower buy-in, and the support of partypoker, which is qualifying players online, we’re giving players who may never have been able to join us for this prestigious event a chance to enjoy the ultimate WPT experience.”
Always one of the most popular destinations on the WPT calendar, Borgata is home to five of the six largest events in World Poker Tour history, including Season X’s WPT Borgata Poker Open, which drew 1,313 entrants and January’s WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open, which attracted 1,229 entrants. This year’s WPT World Championship is expected to draw a strong field, including every Season XII WPT Main Tour champion and the top contenders in the Season XII WPT Player of the Year race, such as Jared Jaffee, Chris Moorman, Dan Smith, Vasili Firsau, David Paredes, Joe Serock, and Anthony Zinno.
In New Jersey, players can win their $15,400 Championship entries through online qualifiers at both partypoker.com and BorgataPoker.com. In addition, New Jersey residents and visitors can play on these sites to compete in the inaugural New Jersey Championship of Online Poker (NJCOP). Starting with a $50,000 freeroll on Saturday, April 19, in which all players who make the final table in this tournament get free tickets into every NJCOP event worth $2,000, and ending with a $200,000 guarantee Main Event on Sunday, April 27, this 15-event online series offers $600,000 in guaranteed prize pools throughout the week.