One of Oklahoma’s most well-known casinos is about to be converted a hot spot.
The Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant will once again play host to the Card Player Poker Tour, set to begin on April 5. This year should see an even better turnout than previous years with a massive $1 million in guaranteed money up for grabs with the main event.
The series consists of 47 different events, and will be kicked off with a $240 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) tournament that has a guaranteed prize pool of $50,000. The main event, a $1,100 NLHE tournament, begins on April 20 and will run until April 22. Direct buy-in is available for the main event, or players can take advantage of a number of discounted satellites for as little as $65.
There will be a wide range of games available to cover virtually every poker player’s favorite. The routine games of NLHE and Omaha are joined by HORSE, 2-7 Triple Draw and Badugi. The series will also present variations of popular games, such as a hold’em seniors tournament, “win the button,” team, congress and bounty tournaments.
The Card Player Poker Tour was first held at the Choctaw in 2012. It offered 31 events and awarded a total of just over $1.8 million. 6,921 players showed up to participate, resulting in every guarantee being blown out. Due to the success of the event, Choctaw’s own hotel had no rooms available for almost the entire series.
That year, 936 players turned out for the inaugural tournament, a $235 NLHE event that ultimately exceeded the posted $100,000 guarantee by about $81,000. The main event drew a massive 800 entrants looking for a piece of the guaranteed $500,000. It became the second largest tournament held at the Choctaw Casino. By the time the tournament was over, the guarantee had been driven up to $760,000. 81 players were awarded a minimum prize of $1,892.
By the time the dust settled on the main event, Maxx Dansky had won the first-place prize. The professional player wasn’t even thinking about tournaments. He was returning from a trip to Nashville and simply decided to stop off at the Choctaw for a few hands. That decision ultimately put him on top and awarded him a $152,000 payday.
