The World Series of Poker Has Ended — What to Do Now?
The first half of the summer is always an exciting time in the poker world as the World Series of Poker dominates everything. All the talk is WSOP, WSOP, WSOP.… It is sometimes hard for me to find things to write about, as it seems like everything else is put on hold. When the Series ends, as it did a week ago, a little bit of the summer doldrums can kick in as poker players and fans come down from the WSOP high. So what is a poker player to do for live tournaments now? Believe it or not, there are loads of live poker festivals going on around the globe that don’t have “World Series” in the title. Let’s take a look at what’s happening now and in the near future.
World Poker Tour
The WPT took a break while the WSOP was going because really, who is going to skip the WSOP for the WPT unless it is a lot more convenient? It wasted no time in getting back underway, though, as Season XVIII kicked off over the weekend with the WPT Gardens Poker Festival at the Gardens Casino in the Los Angeles area. They are into Day 3 of the Main Event right now and as I write this, the tournament is squarely on the money bubble.
The next stop on the Main Tour is the WPT Legends of Poker at the end of August.
On the lower buy-in end of things (if you consider $1,000+ to be “lower”), WPT DeepStacks Germany just finished up and WPT DeepStacks New York will begin in late August.
European Poker Tour
EPT events are few and far between, as there are only five on the schedule for this year. EPT Open Madrid actually ran during the World Series of Poker, believe it or not. Next up is EPT Barcelona, running August 20 through September 1. The EPT Main Event starts on August 26.
After that, there is nothing scheduled for the European Poker Tour until EPT Open Sochi in October.
World Series of Poker Circuit
I know I said there are festivals without “World Series” in the name, but I didn’t say all of them don’t include it. Like the World Poker Tour, the new WSOP Circuit season started when the WSOP ended. If you are in the Dallas area, you can head on over to Choctaw Casino Resort to participate in WSOP Circuit Choctaw Durant, the first Circuit stop of the season. The stop is more than half over, but there are still a few ring events left, including the $1,700 Main Event, which begins Friday.
August features three WSOP Circuit stops: Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina (August 1 through August 12), Foxwoods (August 15 through August 26), and Ameristar St. Charles (August 29 through September 9).
Internationally, WSOP Circuit Russia is currently in progress in Sochi, running until July 28. Playground Poker will host the next WSOP Circuit stop outside of the United States beginning August 22.
Partypoker LIVE
The Triton Super High Roller Series begins next week in London at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane. Spanning July 31 through August 8, it is not kidding when it is called “High Roller,” as one of the tournaments is the £1,000,000 buy-in Triton Million “A Helping Hand for Charity.”
Partypoker MILLIONS Europe follows from August 9 through August 18 and King’s Resort in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. Also in Rozvadov is the Spanish Poker Festival from July 22 through July 28.
Grand Prix Dublin will take place in mid-August.
Heartland Poker Tour
If you are just finding out about the Heartland Poker Tour right now, you unfortunately missed the $1,100 Golden Gates Casino & Poker Parlour stop in not San Francisco, as it might sound from the venue name, but near Denver. It just ended yesterday with a first prize of more than $150,000.
In just a couple days, though, you’re in luck if you are in the middle of the United States (hence the name of the tour), as the tour stop at the Hollywood Casino & Hotel St. Louis kicks off July 25 and goes until August 5. The Main Event has a buy-in of $1,650. Further south, Ameristar Vicksburg will host an HPT tour stop August 1 to August 12. Ameristar East Chicago is next from August 22 through September 2.
Of course, there are tons more live poker tournaments all over the world; the above is just a sampling of what is out there. If you live near a casino, there is almost certainly some sort of daily or weekly tournament schedule, usually for very affordable prices.
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