World Poker Tour announces first half of schedule for Season XX

(PRESS RELEASE) -- The World Poker Tour is thrilled to announce the first half of the schedule for what promises to be a historic 20th season.

The live tour begins with the Lucky Hearts Poker Open at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, FL, later this month. The WPT will also make stops in Choctaw, OK; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Sydney, Australia; and Lincoln, CA before heading to Las Vegas for a pair of final table tapings at the HyperX Esports Arena.

Lucky Hearts Poker Open runs 13-26 January and culminates with the LHPO WPT Championship beginning 21 January, boasting a $2 million guarantee. In January 2021, the WPT LHPO Main Event drew 1,573 entries for a $5,033,600 prize pool.

“We could not be happier to be launching our historic 20th anniversary with an amazing partner in Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood,” said Adam Pliska, WPT CEO. “We have a number of special initiatives planned for the rest of the year to give the poker community amazing ways to celebrate with us.”

The action then heads online for a special event, with the WPT Spring Festival sponsored by Poker King. Running 27 January – 7 February, the festival includes ¥12,000,000 (~$1.9 million) in guarantees. The ¥2,200 (~$345) buy-in Main Event goes 1-7 February and has a ¥8,000,000 (~$1.25 million) guaranteed prize pool.

The second Main Tour stop is the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL. The $3,500 buy-in event is scheduled for 8-12 April. In 2021, the event broke the record for largest field in a live WPT event with 2,482 entries and a $7,942,400 prize pool. Brek Schutten took home $1,261,095 and etched his name onto the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup after outlasting the entire field.

The third WPT Main Tour stop is at Choctaw Casino Resort - Durant, OK. Now in its seventh year, WPT Choctaw has become a staple of the World Poker Tour. Last June, 964 entrants built a prize pool of $3,272,780 to easily smash the $1 million guarantee.

Both WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown and WPT Choctaw will have their final tables filmed for broadcast at the HyperX Esports Arena at the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV on 25 and 26 May.

The first half schedule also includes a trio of WPTDeepStacks events on three separate continents. The first is WPTDeepStacks Amsterdam at Holland Casino Amsterdam from 25 March – 2 April. The WPTDeepStacks Main Event buy-in is €1,100. Players in Australia will then get their shot at WPTDeepStacks Sydney at The Star - Sydney, Australia running 30 March – 11 April, which features an AUD $1,500 buy-in Main Event. WPTDS then returns stateside for WPTDeepStacks Thunder Valley at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, CA from 19 April – 1 May, with a $1,500 buy-in Main Event.