Following a year away, the WPT500 is set to come back to the United Kingdom in March of 2018. The poker tournament, which features a $1 million prize, sees 888poker and World Poker Tour team up for the return of the event.
The first UK edition of the tournament – known as Dusk till Dawn – had a home in Nottingham for a total of three years. Throughout those three years, it was a huge success with poker players.
The inaugural WPT500 event in the UK was won by Eleanor Gudger back in 2014. She withstood 2,133 other entrants to claim the £140,000 prize.
It would be Richard Harris from Wales who played his way to victory in 2015, receiving a total of £150,000 for his efforts. Finally, when the tournament was last seen in the UK in 2016, it was Ben Winsor who took home the winnings. His £550 buy-in swiftly turned into the £150,000 prize after he outlasted 1,834 other players.
The tournament was not brought back to the UK in 2017 and was sorely missed. However, 2018 will see it return to the British Isles, and this time with four different locations making up the tournament venues. 888poker has a solid relationship with Aspers Casinos, meaning that many of the first day events will occur within such Aspers-owned establishments. After this, all of the second day action will take place at the Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City. Day 1s are set to take place at the same casino, as well as the Milton Keynes venue known as The Casino, as well as Aspers Casino based in Newcastle. Furthermore, the online platform of 888poker will also contribute towards Day 1 events.
The Tournament Rules and Schedule
All players who participate on Day 1 will take their seats at tables with a total of 15,000 chips and continues on to play 30-minute blinds. This takes place over eight levels. Following on from this, play changes over to 40-minute levels, before 60-minute games take place at the final table. Buy-in price for participating in Day 1 online stands at $565, while the live Day 1 buy-in is £420. Gamers have the option of re-entering one time per starting flight but can enter an unlimited amount of Day 1s. Of course, the largest stack is the only one taken through, should a player go on to progress to Day 2.
The schedule kicks off with the online Day 1 at 888poker on Sunday, March 11 at 7:01pm. Then, it won’t be until Friday, March 23 that the live games will start from 6:00pm. Day 1 games will take place across several days before Day 2 is set for 1:00pm on Sunday, April 1. The Final Day will be on the following date at the same time.
Ambassador for 888poker, Dominik Nitsche confirms himself as a fan of the possibility to play online for Day 1. Speaking of the WPT500 tournament, he commented that it “has everything that people enjoy about poker”. He also went on to state that the schedule and structure of the tournament is “just right”.
