The World Poker Tour (WPT) continues to expand its global reach of online poker. Taking another step forward, the world’s popular poker brand announced on Wednesday its first-ever online series for players in India, with WPT Online India powered by WPT’s exclusive India partner, Adda52.com. The series will see the cards hit the virtual felt on November 5 and will run all the way till November 22.
Unlike its usual seven-day eight-event live version, the WPT Online India will be a 18-day long poker festival with 154 events. Poker fanatics looking for new opportunities for WPT glory, titles, accolades and huge cash prizes can look forward to the inaugural WPT Online India festival on Adda52.com as it comes with a jaw-dropping INR 13.5 Crores ($1.838 million) in the guaranteed prize pools.
A Host of Surprises for Main Event Champion and Attractive Leaderboard Prizes!
Headlining the series will be the INR 2.5 Crore GTD Main Event sporting INR 11K buy-in. Starting on November 11, it will give players multiple opportunities to enter it with 10 starting flights. Apart from taking the life-changing top prize, the Main Event winner will also receive a $5,000 WPT Passport, which can be used to enter any live WPT event anywhere in the world. That is not all, the Main Event champion will also earn a Hublot Classic Fusion Chronograph Titanium timepiece valued at $10,400.
Adding to the delight will be two leaderboards – the 25 Lac Mega Player of the Series Leaderboard and the 10 Lac Mini Player of the Series Leaderboard. Both leaderboards for the series will award the top 10 players. While the Mega Player of the Series Leaderboard winner will receive a hefty 10 Lac prizemoney, the Mini Player of the Series Leaderboard winner will be awarded 3 Lac prize.
Of the 154 events, 29 with buy-ins up to INR 55,000 will count toward the Mega Player of the Series Leaderboard, while 125 events will be considered for the Mini Player of the Series Leaderboard.
A Special Event To Pay Tribute To Poker Legend Mike Sexton
On the final day will be a special INR 11K buy-in Mike Sexton Tribute event in the memory and honor of the poker legend and celebrated WPT commentator Mike Sexton who passed away earlier this month after a battle with prostate cancer. The event will begin at 8pm local time and all entry fees will be donated to Poker Gives. It will feature a trophy for the winner and a $1,000 WPT Passport.
“The WPT Online venture continues to grow as part of our overall online strategy which we have found effective across the global market,” said Adam Pliska, CEO of the World Poker Tour. “This series comes on the heels of our successful WPT Online series in other parts of the world and we are pleased to be working with Adda52 come November.”
The World Poker Tour partnered with Delta Corp’s market leading Adda52.com in 2017 to host the inaugural WPT India series at the Casino Deltin Royale in Goa. Since then, the two brands have successfully hosted three editions of the WPT India under the able guidance of Manish J. Adnani (Business Head of Poker, Delta Corp) and Danny McDonagh (Live Events Specialist for the World Poker Tour). As a matter of fact, the WPT India, with its ever-growing turnouts and prizepools, has become a hugely popular and favourite series among the poker enthusiasts in India.
“Adda52 and the growing Indian player base make for a perfect combination to bring WPT Online brand to the Asia-Pacific region,” said Danny McDonagh. “Following our record-breaking success with live WPT India events, we expect to exceed even our own expectations for the upcoming series.”
“It has been a learning experience working with the World Poker Tour in India with the live series,” said Manish J. Adnani. “We expect to continue setting higher standards for online poker in the Indian Sub-continent, rollout a memorable experience on Adda52.com and offer the Indian players a platform to achieve glory at the world stage.”
Pratap Pandit, VP Online Operations, Delta Corp, said,“The WPT has built a great relationship with the Indian poker community and we’re proud to have them as our partners. The reach and accessibility of this year’s online series is really exciting and the festive season of Diwali is the perfect setting for it.”
Online Satellites & Contests!
To further spice up things, Adda52 will be running online satellites for the upcoming WPT Online India, plus there will be some exciting contests for the same via Adda52, Adda52 Live and OPN Social handles. Keep following OPN for more updates on the upcoming online series on Adda52.com!