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Lucrative World Poker Tour event coming to Solaire in October

“Anyone with stick-to-it-iveness can win in the World Poker Tour” said WPT president Adam Pliska to the gathered media last Wednesday at the Solaire Resort and Casino in Parañaque City.

If that is the case, then anyone can be a very rich man in just a few days.

Solaire will play host to the most prestigious and well-known poker promotion in the world with the inaugural WPT National Philippines event. Cards go into the air on October 18 and won't stop flying until October 28.

There will be numerous events, but the biggest action will be in the main event from October 25 to 28, with a buy-in of US$2,200.

According to Mike Kim, Solaire's chief poker promoter, the WPT is expecting a field of 600 to 800 runners in the main event, which would push the total kitty into the neighborhood of US$1.6. That could mean the winner could bring home anywhere from US$300,000 to US$500,000 in prize money, making this possibly the richest tournament ever in Pinoy poker history.

There will be other events too for Filipino poker enthusiasts, with buy-ins ranging from US$100 in a charity rebuy event to US$25,500 for the High Roller tournament.

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While these competitions are No Limit Texas Hold 'Em affairs, aficionados of more obscure disciplines will also enjoy the festival of poker. Kim says there will be Pot Limit Omaha tournaments plus small events in Open Face Chinese Poker and Badugi.

The World Poker Tour began in 2002 with eleven events, mostly in the United States. Pliska says that there are now around seventy WPT tournaments planned for this year's schedule, with competitions going down in exotic locales like Venice in Italy, Prague in the Czech Republic, Jeju in Korea, St. Maartens in the Carribbean, and Cyprus.

The WPT produces edited broadcasts of its main event final tables, which show all over the world. The WPT will likely have a media partner for its first Philippine event, but the identity of the network has yet to be determined. Representatives of both ABS-CBN and Solar Sports were at the press conference last Wednesday.

According to Pliska, poker is the third-most watched televised sport. He did not specify if that is for the entire world or just the United States.

Neither Pliska nor Kim could guarantee which of poker's leading stars would come in October. But the WPT has been a showcase for galactics of the game like Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Scotty Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari, Carlos Mortensen, and Gus Hansen. Mortensen, a former World Series of Poker Main Event champ from Spain, has won nearly US$ 6.5 on WPT tables to be the tour's all-time money winner.

Kim does say he will try to lure Philippine-born veteran Toto Leonidas to the event. Leonidas, born in Bacolod, is the first ever Pinoy World Series of Poker bracelet winner, having triumphed in a Seven-Card Stud tournament in 2003. This year another Filipino, Roland Reparejo, also picked up a bracelet at the WSOP, winning a Casino Employees No-Limit Hold 'em tournament.

There has already been a Filipino WPT winner, Cebuano Noli Francisco. He came out on top of the Borgata Poker Open in 2003, taking down US$470,000 in the process.

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The Rivera poker family, represented by brothers Marc, Euryd, Ashby, and Czardy, will try to fly the flag for the Philippines in the main event. Euryd and Ashby have already topped satellites (qualifying events) and have seats for October 25.

Other local poker luminaries like Brian Sombero, magician Erik Mana, and acoustic chanteuse (and The Voice Philippines finalist) Lee Grane were also at the press con and will likely enter the tournament as well.

Mike Sexton, the WPT's legendary commentator, will be in town to cover the play, as well as the WPT's Royal Flush Girls, a cadre of eye-catchingly beautiful event ambassadors who feature in broadcasts.

The WPT is just one of the many upcoming attractions in Solaire. The resort and casino's expansion plans include three more hotels, retail areas, more gaming options and a 1,760-seat theater that will host a production of the renowned musical Chicago in December of this year.

But in October the poker will be the focus. And as Solaire President and COO Thomas Arasi says, “the WPT will create many memorable moments for everyone.”

If you would like to play in the WPT National Philippines main event there are satellite events running every weekend with a total buy-in of P3,300. For satellite schedules visit www.facebook.com/solairepoker

You can also join online super satellites for about P400 to get into the satellites proper at pilipinaspoker.com and pokermanila.com. More info on supersatellites is available here on this page.

Follow Bob on Twitter at @PassionateFanPH.