3-barrels of exceptional live tournament value including a round-up of the most recent action on a Norwegian Cruise Ship; Larry Flynt is busting out $800,000 in guarantees at the Hustler, and PokerStars prepare for the birth of their new Bahamian baby.
The shipping line company, Norwegian Cruise Line, are showing that the recruitment of a few famous faces helps when promoting your annual poker game.
Joe Cada, the youngest World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion, joined the cruise ship company as a poker tour ambassador when he left PokerStars in 2014, and since then the field has grown from 186 entrants to 215 (2015) and 337 earlier this month.
The third iteration of the Norwegian Poker Challenge once again took place on their 1,081 feet long monster: Epic, with the spacious Bliss Lounge hosting 20-tables and luminaries such as former WSOP Main Event Champ, Ryan Riess, and double WSOP bracelet winner, Loni Harwood.
The event smashed the $250,000 guarantee with $337,000 issued in prize money. Jimmy Hu, a 25-year old Canadian amateur, won the top prize of $84,250.
The $1,100 No Limit Hold’em Main Event was the pinnacle of a cruise around the Virgin Islands that also held $560, $230 & $120 buy-in events as well as a $120 Ladies only game.
Senior Vice Prez of Casino Operations, Jim Abbas, told Cardplayer magazine that they have no intention of stopping and expect next year to be even bigger.
If you want to get involved in that next journey, then pencil the dates Dec 2-9, 2017 into the diary and head over to www.ncl.com/pokerchallenge to book one of the 4,100 rooms.
Thanks for Cardplayer magazine for the scoop on this one.
The Hustler Casino Offers $800,000 in Guaranteed Prizes
If you prefer to play your poker on dry land then The Hustler Casino in Gardena, California is opening up their doors Jan 2-14 for the 2017 Poker Player’s Championships.
There are seven events in total (counting satellites), and they are all reasonably priced, as long as you can keep your finicky finger off the rebuy trigger.
The opening event is a $275 buy-in event with a $50,000 guarantee. There is also a $400 buy-in event with a $500,000 guarantee. And a $250 buy-in Quantum Reload event with a $250,000 guarantee where players can buy-in directly into Day 2 for $1,700.
Click here for the full flavour.
PokerStars Prepare For Inaugural PokerStars Championships
With the European Poker Tour (EPT) buried beneath a flagstone in Prague, PokerStars set their sights on the Bahamas with their first stab at the PokerStars Championship.
The new festival will run Jan 6 – 14, and there will be over 90 events. The caviar is the $5,000 PokerStars Championship Bahamas Main Event. PokerStars has confirmed over 259 players have qualified online with an incredible 135 players winning packages via the $10 Spin & Go route.
If you aren’t one of those lucky winners and gave all of your money to Saint Nick, then PokerStars has your back. James Hartigan, Joe Stapleton and Matt Broughton will deliver as much action to you as they can muster through PokerStars TV via YouTube, Twitch and a variety of other different digital sources.
The main highlights of the festival are:
$220 buy-in PokerStars Open
$440 buy-in PokerStars Cup
$2,200 buy-in PokerStars National Championship
$5,000 buy-in PokerStars Championship Main Event
$25,750 buy-in PokerStars Championship High Roller
$100,000 buy-in PokerStars Championship Super High Roller
A vast array of PokerStars pros will descend on the Atlantis Resort, and Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia will also be making an appearance.
The full schedule can be found right here.
