Venetian will play host to a series of high-stakes poker tournaments starting Thursday, with potentially millions of dollars on the line. The events are part of the brand new PokerGO Tour, with valuable points being awarded to the winners of three events.
Buy-ins for the tournaments next weekend range from $10,000 to $25,000. The Venetian isn’t the regular home for high-roller poker tournaments in Las Vegas, as most of these events are held at Aria.
PokerGO unveiled its new tour last month, which will feature some of the game’s top pros competing in a series of high-stakes events around the world over the next year. Points will be awarded to those who cash in each event, with the eventual winner receiving a $100,000 cash prize as a bonus.
Ali Imsirovic, with 1,145 points, is the current leader, although it’s early in the year. He’s one of the best young stars in the game, so he’ll likely be in contention throughout the year.
Venetian high-roller schedule
The mini-series begins on Thursday, May 27, with a $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event, which is part of the Venetian DeepStack Championship Poker Series. Players will start with 100,000 chips and blind levels are set to increase every 40 minutes. Those who register before “shuffle up and deal” at 2 pm don’t have to pay rake.
As is the case with most high-roller tournaments, a 30-second shot clock will be in place in all three events. Each player will receive six, 30-second time extension chips, and then another six at the final table.
Event #2, a $10,000 buy-in tourney, takes place Friday, May, 28. Like all three of the events in the mini-series, this is a one-day tournament. The structure from Event #1 (100,000 chips, 40-minute levels) will remain the same. On Saturday, the high-roller weekend concludes with a $25,000 buy-in tournament. Blind levels will again be set for 40 minutes, but players will start with 125,000 in chips instead of 100,000.
Venetian has an action-packed summer in store, starting with the PokerGO Tour high rollers. In July, the World Poker Tour will return to the Las Vegas Strip mega-resort for the second time in 2021. The WPT will host a $2,400 buy-in DeepStack event ($2 million guaranteed) and a $5,000 Main Tour tournament ($3 million guaranteed).
