WPT Canada Coast to Coast Poker Championships

WPT Canada (WPTC) tour kicks off today with its first stop—Coast to Coast Poker Championships, presented by British Columbia Lottery Corporation—at River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, British Columbia. WPTC is the dedicated tour for Canada, a country where some of the world’s greatest poker professionals call home and poker is booming in best-in-class casino properties nationwide.

“Canada is an incredible destination for poker, which we have experienced first-hand during three successful Canadian events on the main WPT tour,” said Steve Lipscomb, WPT Founder, President and CEO. “The sport of poker has long been growing in Canada, fostering poker fans and creating world-class poker professionals. It was only a matter of time before WPT offered a tailored tour unique to Canadian poker fans, and couldn’t be more thrilled to finally launch it today.”

WPT-Canada May 5 – 13, 2008, the event features multiple tournament options including a super satellite, bounty event, and a $3,000 CDN main event where players will face pros like Gavin Smith, WPT Season IV Player of the Year; “Yukon” Brad Booth; and Canadian Poker Tour Player of the Year Jody Trainer. Antonio Esfandiari, face of the WPT Poker-Made Millionaire™ will also play in the bounty and main events, representing Worldpokertour.com. Esfandiari recently placed eighth out of 842 players at the European Poker Tour Grand Finals in Monte Carlo.

The May 11 Coast to Coast Poker Championships final tables will play down on the WPT Canada set and will be filmed for television broadcast in Canada. Poker pro Kenna James will make his WPT Canada debut as TV commentator alongside host and well-known Canadian sports announcer, Jim Van Horne. The WPT Canada Coast to Coast Poker Championships television episodes will debut in Canada late this summer.

Canadian Coast to Coast Poker Tournament

Poker goes coast to coast in the Great White North

A major new big buy-in land poker tournament for Canada is shaping up in the World Poker Tour’s just announced Coast to Coast Poker Championship, which will feature high stakes poker action in an East vs. West competition at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, B.C, on May 5-13.

The British Columbia Lottery Corporation and WPT organisers anticipate that with Canada’s track record for producing top poker players the entry field will feature many top names in the game, ensuring a large entry field.

The Coast to Coast Poker Championship will feature a total of seven events with an anticipated 2 650 players taking part, generating a $2.4 million prize pool that will include a first place prize of $377 300.

Tournament events will include No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Hold’em and Omaha High/Low as well as a special events such as a bounty tournament and a Mother’s Day team tournament.

The Coast to Coast Poker Championships will be the first stop for WPT Canada and will be filmed to produce four one-hour episodes, which will air nationally in Canada.