World Poker Tour Lines Up More Wpt Australia Stops

It took many years for the World Poker Tour to take any of its tours to Australia. But when it did, several years ago, Aussie players made it an instant hit. That enthusiasm overcame pandemic-related barriers. When the WPT visited Sydney for the first time at the end of March and into April, players came out in force to participate. It made the WPTDeepStacks Sydney a smashing success.

The World Poker Tour looks to replicate or top that success as it returns to Australia twice later this year.

A Sydney Record

When the WPTDS Sydney action wrapped up at The Star Sydney earlier in April, it attracted some attention. The full series of 11 events brought in 6,392 entries in total. That created a cumulative prize pool of $6,688,690.

The Main Event alone attracted more than 2K entries and awarded nearly $2.7M in prize money. That $1,500 buy-in Main Event and its 2,023 entries made it the largest WPTDeepStacks in the tour’s history. Its prize pool of $2,690,590 was also a Main Event record.

The series made more history. Its total series entries made it the largest WPT Asia-Pacific festival in history. The cumulative prize pool set a record as well.

It will be the last time that the Aussies will be able to set a WPTDeepStacks record, though. The WPT recently announced the retirement of the brand. But in its place, the WPT is launching the new WPT Prime tour. And that was has a stop in Australia already on the schedule.

Two More Aussie Stops in 2022

Just as the WPTDS Sydney was tallying the final numbers, the World Poker Tour was making another announcement. It would return to Australia later in 2022, not once but twice.

The new WPT Prime will head to the Star Gold Coast in June. That new tour kicks off in late May in Vietnam and will visit Cambodia in August and Taiwan in November. But just after Vietnam, the crew will head to the Gold Coast for an entire festival. It will run 9-20 June.

Later in the year, the World Poker Tour will visit the Gold Coast again, this time for a main tour stop. For the first time, there will be a full WPT Australia stop at the Gold Coast 15-27 September, with a buy-in $5,400 buy-in Main Event set for 23-27 September.

The Star Gold Coast Chief Operating Officer Jessica Mellor commented on the upcoming tour stops:

“With interstate and international travellers returning to our shores in search of incredible experiences and entertainment, we’re excited to announce The Star Gold Coast will welcome not one, but two major poker events later this year. In a real coup for the city, the WPT main tour event will make its way to the Gold Coast for the very first time in September, bringing all the prestige of the best poker players in the world. Meanwhile, the WPT Prime Gold Coast in June is expected to attract interest from thousands of poker fans across Australia and the Asia Pacific after our 2021 event set a new record with over 1,000 entries.”

WPT Prime Gold Coast Details

The World Poker Tour has yet to release details about the main tour stop in September, but the WPT Prime action is approaching soon – in little more than one month. That means that the WPT and Star Gold Coast recently released the full schedule for the series.

The schedule of official events is as follows:

• 9-12 June (Event 1): $175 buy-in NLHE Opening Event (2 flights, unlimited reentries)
• 11-12 June (Event 2): $1,100 buy-in NLHE (1 reentry)
• 12-13 June (Event 3): $660 buy-in NLHE Big Bounty (unlimited reentries)
• 13 June (Event 4): $330 buy-in NLHE Freezeout
• 14 June (Event 5): $330 buy-in PLO (unlimited reentries)
• 14-15 June (Event 6): $1K buy-in NLHE Mystery Bounty (2 flights, unlimited reentries)
• 16-20 June (Event 7): $1,500 buy-in Main Event (3 flights, unlimited reentries)
• 17 June (Event 8): $440 buy-in NLHE Deep Stack Super Turbo Freezeout
• 19-20 June (Event 9): $660 buy-in PLO (unlimited reentries)
• 19-20 June (Event 10): $5K buy-in NLHE Challenge (unlimited reentries)
• 20 June (Event 11): $440 buy-in NLHE Deep Stack Freezeout

Players should note that there is a player’s party, hosted by the World Poker Tour, on the evening of 18 June.

There is also a copy of the full schedule, complete with starting chip stacks, levels, starting times, and late registration information. This document also contains information about live event satellites. While there are qualifiers for more than one event, the majority of satellites are $175 buy-ins to award seats for the $1,500 Main Event. The exception is the last-chance satellite with a $330 buy-in.