Considering the poker boom in Asia, the World Poker Tour (WPT) was acquired by Chinese gaming giant Ourgame International in June 2015, but the last few weeks and months have not been good news for the companies, with China cracking down poker across various places in the country.
Many people have been arrested in the last month, including the six top Ourgame employees arrested last week in relation to running underground gambling activities using the company’s free-to-play apps as a cover-up. Even worse, all social poker apps have been banned by the Chinese government and will disappear on 1st June 2018. So, the situation does not seem to be favourable.
Most people would consider it a trouble for poker in Asia, but WPT doesn’t seem to mind it a lot. This is perhaps the reason why they have recently announced 2 tournament festivals in Asia scheduled for later this year, including a new team format of the game. “The World Poker Tour is thrilled to announce WPT Japan and WPT Korea as part of our 2018 schedule,” said WPT CEO, Adam Pliska.
The WPT Japan is set to take place between 15-17 September, in partnership with the Japan Poker Union Corporation. The Main Event of the series will feature a buy-in of JPY 30,000 (~$270). Soon after this event, WPT Korea will take place between 18-24 September at Paradise City Casino in Incheon, South Korea, where the Main Event buy-in has been kept at KRW 1.1 million (~$1,020)
To the delight of players in Asia, the WPT Teams Event will make its debut at the WPT Korea, between 19-21 September, where 16 teams of 4 players each will compete across 6 different formats of poker. The team that emerges as the winner will win seats to WPT Korea Main Event.