the Poker world tour goes to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida this month for the launch of their 20th season with the Lucky Hearts Poker Opening.

Running January 13-26, the two-week festival features the first WPT event of the year – the $ 3,500 buy-in WPT Main Tour championship event with a guaranteed prize pool of $ 2 million.

“Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood has been a fantastic partner for the World Poker Tour and starting our 20th season in Florida is a fantastic choice,” said Adam pliska, President and CEO of WPT. “Additionally, we look forward to letting the poker world enjoy some of the special incentives we have planned for our 20th anniversary.”

Just over a year ago, the Lucky Hearts Poker Open served as a return to the live poker scene for the WPT after a ten-month hiatus caused by the pandemic. Unsure of what to expect in terms of attendance, the event shattered expectations with 1,573 entries, making it one of the largest Main Tour grounds in the company’s history. In the end, the last three players made a deal and Ilyas Muradi was crowned the winner, earning $ 605,000 and entering the WPT Champions Club.

The five-day $ 3,500 WPT LHPO Main Event kicks off Jan. 21 with two start days and unlimited re-entry until the start of level 9 for both days.

There are some noticeable structural changes this year from the 2021 tournament. Again, players will start with 40,000 chips and have hour-long levels on Day 1 and Day 2. However, in 2021 the level 1 started with 100-100 blinds and no ante. The big blind ante only started at level 3. Here in 2022 there is a 200 BBA right off the bat with blinds at 100-200. Essentially, the first two hours of 2021 have been scrapped and players will be playing more meaningful pots from the get-go.

Additionally, in 2021 Day 3 started with 90 minute levels regardless of how many players were left. This year the time remains at 60 minutes until the field has reduced to 40 players. At this point, the levels are increased to 90 minutes until the final table. With six players remaining, we’ll see 60-minute and 30-minute one-on-one levels.

However, there is one more difference and it is this year the Lucky Hearts Poker Open final table will be broadcast live on WPT.com.

Around the Main Event, the LHPO offers players a series of 31 tournaments in total with $ 5 million guaranteed across the series. There are a lot of low to medium stakes buy-ins on offer on a daily basis. Program highlights include the $ 600 Guaranteed NLHE Deep Stack Launch Event Jan. 13-16, two $ 1,100 Deep Stack events with $ 100,000 guarantees and a $ 1,700 Bounty event with 100,000 $ guaranteed.

For those who want to play a little higher, there’s the $ 5,000 NLHE event with $ 200,000 guaranteed on January 25th. In addition to the Main Event, the tournament that is sure to attract the big names in the game is the $ 25,500 High Roller with $ 1. million guaranteed taking place Jan. 24-25.

“Our team constantly strives to provide a top notch experience for poker players, and we believe the results speak for themselves,” said Jason heidenthan, Tournament Director at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. “We look forward to playing a big role in the 20th anniversary of the World Poker Tour and helping them get started with Lucky Hearts Poker Open in January. “

To help people get in on the action, Seminole Hard Rock will be hosting mega satellites for various events every day starting January 11. A full schedule of events is available on the Seminole Hard Rock website.

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