The annual Prague Poker Festival is looking slightly meatier after TonyBet Poker announced plans to operate the first live Open Face Chinese World Championships, and the World Poker Tour announced a €2,000 National Event, both taking place in the King’s Casino, Prague.
For most people around the world Christmas means mince pies, a hot toddy for Santa, and a loss of eight hours sleep on Christmas Eve.
Not for poker players.
Christmas means the Prague Poker Festival, and for the longest time, it seemed as if the players were going to be handed extensive Christmas shopping time, as the World Poker Tour (WPT) decided to withdraw it’s annual Main Event from the festival program.
All that has now changed.
Tony G may have left poker to focus on his role in European politics, but his poker site is still going strong, after a recent announcement that they will celebrate their one year anniversary by hosting the inaugural Open Face Chinese (OFC) Live World Championships.
The event will be held Dec 8-10 at the King’s Casino at the Corinthia Hotel in Prague, and will feature two Pineapple tournaments: a €1,000 Main Event, and a €10,000 High Roller.
“Open Face Chinese poker is a fun and exciting game, growing incredibly fast. Being the biggest global OFC poker site, we decided to seize an opportunity and give some live action for the players. And with the entire poker community coming to Prague in December, there’s just no better time and place to hold it. We are set to run the biggest live OFC event in history”, a site representative stated.
The High Roller will take place on the 8th December, meaning it will clash with the Day 1B of the EUREKA Main Event, and the two-day €1,000 Main Event will take place on the 9th and 10th Dec, meaning it will clash with the European Poker Tour (EPT) Super High Roller, and the beginning of the EUREKA High Roller.
One imagines that Leon Tsoukernik, the owner of King’s Casino, friend of Tony G, and High Stakes gambler, will ensure that there is enough interest in the €10,000 High Roller, and it will be interesting to see how many players defect from the EPT to play what is a very popular format.
Players who cannot afford the €1,000 buy-in, for the Main Event, can qualify online for as little as €10.
Here is the satellite structure.
| Time (UTC+3) | Buy-in | Name | Guarantee |
| All the time | €55 | SnG Sat to OFC World Championship Final Qualifier (1 seat GTD) | |
| 10/21 @10pm | €10 | OFC World Championship Sat (Rd1, 1 seat GTD) | €150 |
| 10/22 @10pm | €10 | OFC World Championship Sat (Rd1, 1 seat GTD) | €150 |
| 10/23 @7pm | €10 | OFC World Championship Sat (Rd1) | |
| 10/23 @8pm | €20 | OFC World Championship Sat (Rd1, 1 seat GTD) | €150 |
| 10/23 @10pm | €150 | OFC World Championship Sat (Qualifier, 1seat GTD) | €1,000 |
| 10/24 @10pm | €20 | OFC World Championship Sat (Rd1) | |
| 10/25 @10pm | €10 | OFC World Championship Sat (Rd1) | |
| 10/26 @10pm | €20 | OFC World Championship Sat (Rd1, 1 seat GTD) | €150 |
The WPT Return to Prague
The WPT have announced plans to get involved in the Prague Poker Festival action, albeit a little later than players would have liked, and they have decided to pitch their piece de resistance in the middle of their usual offering of National and Main Event buy-in levels.
The WPT National Prague Festival will operate Dec 1-7, meaning players arriving for the EPT will have the opportunity to arrive that little bit earlier, and participate in the WPT events, without the need to decide between the two live tournament monsters.
The highlight of the festival is a €2,000 Main Event, that will take place Dec 4 – 7, and online qualifiers will be running on partypoker if you fancy getting into the action a little cheaper.
The series will also feature a €3,000 8-Max Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) event Dec 6-7, and a full schedule of side events and satellites can be found right here.
http://www.worldpokertour.com/Shared/Tournaments/Seasons/Regional_and_National/partypoker_WPT_National_Prague.aspx
“With over 30 tournaments in Season XIII, WPT National Events continue to expand, enabling players from all over the world to experience the World Poker Tour at more accessible buy-in levels,” said WPT President Adam Pliska. “We know Prague is a popular destination within the poker community and as original record breaking location, Kings Casino is a premiere property that we know our players will enjoy.”
