World Poker Tour Bringing $15 Million Multi-Tournament Event to Wynn Las Vegas

Posted on: June 7, 2022, 09:34h. 

Last updated on: June 7, 2022, 10:39h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Wynn Las Vegas will be a hotbed of poker activity in December. That’s when the World Poker Tour’s WPT Championship brings the first guaranteed $15 million prize pool to the Strip integrated resort.

World Poker Tour
The poker room at Wynn Las Vegas. It will host a major World Poker Tour event in December. (Image: Wynn Las Vegas)

This is a multi-tournament event with a variety of buy-ins. But the crown jewel is the WPT World Championship, which Wynn Las Vegas is hosting from Dec. 1 through Dec. 20. The final table of the championship will be televised, and the buy-in for that event is a hefty $10,400.

The WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas features three ‘Day 1’ flights on Dec. 12, 13, and 14 that will culminate with the crowning of a champion on December 20. Each of those starting days will include a ‘freezeout’ format, with players permitted a single entry per flight,” according to a statement issued by the WPT.

Starting on June 12, ClubWPT, the official subscription online poker game of the World Poker Tour, will host a variety of qualifying events. It’s expected at least 200 online qualifiers will participate in the championship.

Broadcast on Bally’s

In addition to Wynn Las Vegas hosting the WPT event, there’s another tie-in to a well-known gaming company. WPT tournaments are broadcast on Bally’s Sports in the US.

In November 2020, Bally’s paid $85 million to put its name for 10 years on 21 regional sports networks (RSNs) owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. That accord was later broadened to include original content, and could eventually include the gaming company working with the media outfit’s Sinclair’s Tennis Channel and Stadium units.

“The Sinclair-owned and operated Bally Sports RSN portfolio includes the following 19 network brands: Bally Sports Arizona; Bally Sports Detroit; Bally Sports Florida; Bally Sports Great Lakes; Bally Sports Kansas City; Bally Sports Indiana; Bally Sports Midwest; Bally Sports New Orleans; Bally Sports North; Bally Sports Ohio; Bally Sports Oklahoma; Bally Sports San Diego; Bally Sports SoCal; Bally Sports South; Bally Sports Southeast; Bally Sports Southwest; Bally Sports Sun; Bally Sports West; and, Bally Sports Wisconsin,” according to a statement.

As for WPT’s multi-tournament event at Wynn Las Vegas, there will be multiple large buy-in televised offerings.

“A second televised event between Dec. 8-12, the inaugural 2022 World Poker Tour Prime Championship, will carry a $1,100 buy-in and $2 million guaranteed prize pool. The festival wraps December 16-19 with the $2 million guaranteed Wynn Mystery Bounty, in which players have a chance to draw for cash prizes up to $100,000 after eliminating fellow competitors,” added WPT in the statement.

Wynn Las Vegas Has Big Poker Reputation

Plenty of Las Vegas venues, including those off and on the Strip, have deep ties to poker and related high-profile events.

Wynn Las Vegas is no slouch on the poker front. The integrated resort is currently hosting Wynn Summer Classic, which runs through July 20 and features $16.5 million in guaranteed prizes.

The venue also has daily tournaments, except for when marquee events are on, with guaranteed weekly prize pools of $95,000.