There were a number of positive headlines this week in terms of poker brands around the world. Let’s start off in the United Kingdom where the WPT500 is back after a one-year absence.
WPT500 Back After One-Year Hiatus
888poker and the World Poker Tour are getting together to bring back the WPT500 to the United Kingdom after a year’s absence. It will take place in March in London and it will actually be held in four different places. Day 1 of the WPT500 London will take place at various venues that are associated with Aspers Casinos while Day 2 and the final day will take place at Aspers Casinos Westfield Stratford City. Meanwhile, there is the WPT500 UK and Day 1 for that event will happen at Aspers Westfield Stratford City along with the Newcastle Aspers location as well as the Casino Milton Keynes. Players can also, of course, play online at 888poker.
All players get 15,000 chips to start and the online buy-in is $565. For live players, it is $588. You can also head to 888poker and win a seat for the WPT500, along with winning tournament tickets and cash, so check out what they have to offer.
ESPN Will Broadcast WSOP, One Drop
ESPN has announced it will be airing the World Series of Poker and the One Drop event. The WSOP is going to be shown on ESPN and ESPN2 starting on July 2 for the first day of the main event. Then it goes for 12 days until there is a winner, which will take place on either July 14 or 15, depending on how long it takes. After that, there will be a one-day break before ESPN2 broadcasts the Big One for One Drop, one of the biggest charity poker tournaments in the world. It features a million-dollar buy-in that benefits the One Drop foundation, which focuses on clean water. That’ll take place on July 16 but it will also be replayed on July 21.
This is huge news for the poker world as ESPN is arguably the global leader in sports broadcasting and running 40-plus hours of poker coverage is a massive deal. The World Series of Poker coverage was to be expected as ESPN has been on that for a while now but we’re never quite certain if it will be on the main network, ESPN2 or the apps. It’s also a boon for the poker brand that the Big One for One Drop shows will be seen on television.
Aria Poker Classic Dates Announced
The dates for the 2018 Aria Poker Classic have been announced. The event will be held at Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas from May 26 to July 8 with tons of games that players will be able to get in on. Many of the games will have buy-ins of either $240 or $400, and there will be some events with bigger pots like the $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em games on June 6, June 20 and July 6. There are also events for ladies and seniors on the calendar as well.
This is a popular event that offers players something different from the World Series of Poker as the buy-ins are largely not as high, so it is far more welcoming to the casual crowd.