The Five Star World Poker Classic returns to the Bellagio Hotel
- by Josef Rantamaki
The Five Star World Poker Classic series will once again return to the Bellagio Hotel and Casino and will culminate in the end of season $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship main event.
Starting on 4th May, the season will host 34 events and it will run through to 26th May, providing tournaments of all levels to professionals and non-professionals alike, while buy-ins will range from $333 to the $100,000 WPT super high roller.
The super high roller premiered in 2011 and was massively popular. With a field of 29 players, the final table included many big names, with poker legend Erik Siedel taking first prize of $1,092,780. In second place was Erick Lindgren and Daniel Negreanu came third. Starting on 23rd May, the event is to be filmed for television broadcast by WPT
Featuring many thrilling events, the highpoint of the Five Star World Poker Classic will be the $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship main event. It starts on 19th May and continues until 26th May, when a new champion will be announced, the WPT final table being televised.
In 2011, a tally of 220 competitors paid the $25,000 buy-in for the main event. This raised a prize pool of $5,335,000, with Scott Seiver eventually triumphing at the final table for the title and lifting the first prize of $1,618,334. That success also brought him 1,584 points to go towards Card Player of the Year.
For the benefit of poker players worried that the series may clash with the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), they should take note that registration for the main event is available until Monday 21st May, the beginning of level 11 on Day 3.