Many poker tours have risen and grown in the past several decades, and it only made sense for some of them to join forces. Now the most recent announcement partners one of the biggest names in the game of poker with a rising star in the world of live tournaments, as the World Poker Tour joins with the DeepStacks Poker Tour to offer a mid-major series of tournaments around the United States.
Player-Centric Partnership
The World Poker Tour has long been a player favorite when it comes to live poker tournaments. Recently, it branched out to offer everything from Alpha8 with very high-stakes buy-ins to WPT Regional and National events that reach out to more mainstream and recreational players. It is the WPT Regional sector that is partnering up with DeepStacks to become WPTDeepStacks.
DeepStacks was the brainchild of Chris Torina and boasts of a number of poker champions that represents its brand around North and Central America. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, along with Tristan Wade and Randal Flowers, travel with the DSPT to encourage the participation of more players.
DSPT has also separated itself from other tournaments by offering its own live updates, 360-degree live streamed tournaments, reasonable tournament buy-ins, and television show. The tour has reached out to poker rooms in casinos that don’t often host major poker events, but became involved due to the specialized marketing and promotions that DSPT offered.
According to the press release, players who attend tournaments with WPTDeepStacks will find larger prize pool guarantees, bigger fields of players, more amenities at the various casinos and card rooms, and a 2015 WPT World Championship seat for the WPTDeepStacks Player of the Year.
Torina noted, “WPTDeepstacks completely redefines the mid-major tournament market, delivering a world-class experience to low and medium buy-in players, at a fraction of the cost.”
He went on to call the partnership a game changer, something that will offer players an “exclusive” opportunity for low tournament buy-ins, the kind of experience previously only allowed to player buying in to a $5K or $10K event.
WPT President Adam Pliska added that the deal is “one of those rare win-win-wins. Combining WPT’s brand with DSPT’s staff and cutting-edge approach is a victory for both brands.”
He noted that there will be a high level of quality because DSPT has taken poker production and experience for players to a higher level than had been done before.
What to Expect
Players can compete on ClubWPT, the World Poker Tour’s subscription poker site, for seats to WPTDeepStacks events through numerous satellites.
The two entities will work to compile a 2015 schedule that is easy to find and follow, but for now, players can participate in WPTDeepStacks via the two partnering tours.
As for the WPT Regional tour, the only event listed going forward at this point is the upcoming IP Spring Classic at the IP Casino Resort Spa in Biloxi, Mississippi. The $1,150 buy-in NLHE tournament is scheduled for May 9-11, 2014.
As for the DSPT lineup, there are tournaments scheduled through November of this year. Just wrapped up took place at the Turlock Poker Room in Central California May 2-4, with the next upcoming event scheduled at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles May 23-27. From there, the tour heads to Canada – first to Calgary and the Grey Eagle Casino September 20-28, and then to Casino Yellowhead in Edmonton October 4-12. The October stop will be at the Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City in the UK October 22-26, and following month takes the DSPT to the Dragonara Casino in Malta November 5-9.
