Mar 31 (newsonjapan.com) - It's well known that poker is an international game. To such an extent that there's a big tournament on every continent with countries competing for the hosting rights.
If you're a passionate poker player and spectator, you may know about a few of these events.
Tournaments like the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the European Poker Tournament (EPT), or Aussie Million are probably events you are already looking forward to. If you're like some die hard fans, you may have even booked tickets for some of these tournaments and can't wait to get together with everyone from the industry.
Even if you're fresh into poker and you just want to learn more about the game and its representation across the globe, this is a great opportunity for you. Check out some of these tournaments since we're focusing on ALL continents and including a few rising stars as well. It means you don't necessarily have to be world-class to attend and have a good chance.
World Poker Tour Japan
The 5th edition of the Japanese WPT took place in September 2021 and broke records for registration. With that said, WPT Japan is sure to be an incredible show for the 2022 edition. The 2021 edition was the first time hosting duties were shared by Tokyo and Osaka. After the success in 2021, the arrangement will likely become the standard.
The Sammy Headquarters, one of the main sponsors of the tournament, is the location for Tokyo. In Osaka, Poker Live Osaka is responsible for welcoming the players and spectators. Since we're talking about quite an important event, there will be qualifiers and invitees as well for WPT Japan. All that's handled by the Japan Poker Union Team in an outstanding manner.
The 2021 prize pool totaled $91,500, and it's expected that in 2022 the value will reach around $130,000. Especially with multiple countries lifting travel restrictions, the interest in this Japanese poker tournament should be very high!
The Aussie Million Poker Championship
After checking Japan's main attraction, Australia is next. It's well-known Aussies love their poker and pokies alike, so it's no wonder that there's a comprehensive list of tournaments to choose from here.vHowever, there's one that clearly stands out from the rest - Aussie Millions Poker Championship. The last edition took place in 2020, and it was a huge one. With a total prize pool of $8,200,000, you can imagine the competition among those registered.
The 2020 edition came to an exciting finale as the last three players made a deal to end the tournament. So, Vincent Wan and Ngoc Thai Hoang both walked away with $1,318,000 while third place Gareth Pepper took home $1 million. Not bad for seven days of playing poker, eh?
The 2022 edition was postponed due to pandemic concerns. However, there's hope the event will occur before the end of the year.
Las Vegas - Poker’s Homeland
We couldn't possibly compile a list of the best poker tournaments without including Las Vegas on it. There's quite an exhaustive list of events to choose from when browsing the Las Vegas scene. However, just like the Aussie Million Poker Championship shines in Australia, one in Las Vegas makes the others look like semi-pro events.
World Series of Poker Las Vegas, scheduled to take place between 31 May and 20 July in 2022, is the flagship competition when it comes to poker tournaments. With historical editions like the one in 2006 when the first prize of the main event was a jaw-dropping $12 million by Jamie Gold, it's easy to understand why WSOP Las Vegas is the king of tournaments.
The 2021 edition wasn't too shy either. While the prize pool didn't compare to the extraordinary $82 million from 2006, Koray Aldemir surely didn't mind the $8 million bag he walked away with. The $4,3 million for the runner-up Goerge Holmes wasn't too bad either.
The European Poker Tour
The 'old continent' couldn't be the only one without a massive, regular poker tournament. While the prize pools and prizes can't compare to the games mentioned earlier, it's still one impressive tournament. EPT Barcelona Tournament took place between 27 August and 2 September. The poker competition saw Piotr Nurzynski walk away with over €1 million. The latest EPT event in Prague saw another Polish player (Grzegorz Główny) win €692,252, so it's definitely not a tournament to disconsider.
Final Thoughts
There you have it, plenty of poker tournaments worldwide to look forward to. From Asia to Las Vegas, from Australia to Barcelona, there's plenty of action for poker. Especially since the popularity of Texas Hold'Em swept the entire planet, and players simply can't have enough.
