The World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific (WSOP-APAC) is cocked, loaded and ready to fire; as the first of five gold bracelet events takes place on Thursday 4th April, live and direct from the Crown Melbourne.
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) continues to expand on the use of the word ‘World’ by taking the iconic brand to Australia for the inaugural WSOP-APAC. It’s the second major expansion for the WSOP after it first left the safety of the shores that are adorned with stars and stripes, to land in The Empire Casino, London, England back in 2007 for the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE).
“Ever since Australian Joe Hachem won the WSOP Main Event in 2005, we dreamed of the day we could hear Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi Oi, Oi on native soil,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart.
The event will be hosted at the Crown Melbourne in Melbourne Australia and it will mark the beginning of the 2013 WSOP season, with five gold bracelet events all contributing to WSOP Player of the Year (POY) points, that will end when the juggernaut moves to Paris for the first-time ever in October.
“We can’t wait for the first WSOP Asia-Pacific to begin, and we hope with a solidified schedule, players from around the globe will plan their trip to Melbourne as we make WSOP history awarding the first bracelets in the Southern Hemisphere.”
The waiting is almost over as the first event dubbed ‘The Accumulator’ will have cards in the air on Thursday 18:00 (Oz time). It is going to be a AUD$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (NLHE) event with a twist, that consists of three starting flights. Players can choose to play in as many of the three starting flights as they choose and they can accumulate chips in all three to be used as their starting stack on Day Two. Players who bust can also re-enter on a different starting flight. It is yet another bold move from a team who aren’t scared of mixing it up in order to keep the players enthusiasm from waning.
Event #2 will be a AUD$1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) event, Event #3 an AUD$2,200 Mixed Event, Event #4 an AUD$5,000 Six-Handed NLHE event with the final event reserved for the AUD$10,000 Main Event. In addition, to these five bracelet events there will also be a AUD$50,000 NLHE High Rollers event, with re-buys, and the return of the love-it-or-hate-it format of the Caesars Cup. This year we see the European team, spearheaded by Sam Trickett taking on an Asian-Pacific team spearheaded by Joe Hachem, for the right to take on the reigning champions Team America with Phil Ivey at the helm.
Whilst it’s a wonderful idea to stretch the reach of the WSOP to another area of the globe, it does put the pinch on the already tight purse strings of the seasoned professional. It also clashes with the World Poker Tour (WPT) events in Barcelona and Florida, with just two days to fly into Berlin for the European Poker Tour (EPT). All that action with just weeks before the poker world flies en masse to Sin City for the most expensive seven weeks of the year.
But the success of the Aussie Millions shows that although the WSOP might be missing some established US and European stars, there will be locals aplenty to make sure there is enough Australian dollar to keep everyone happy. 1,338 entrants in the AUD$1,100 NLHE Aussie Millions event, that was won by Rupert Elder for AUD$250,000, just showing what the punters in Oz are capable of.
Ausie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!
