Fallsview Casino to host first-ever WPT Canadian Open

It was announced today that the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls will host the first-ever World Poker Tour (WPT) Canadian Open. The poker tournament will take place Oct. 22-24, just days before the WPT North American Poker Championship begins at the same location Oct. 25.

"We recognized the need for a major national televised poker event that Canadians could call their own," said Steve Lipscomb, CEO and founder of WPT Enterprises, Inc. "Canada is rich with poker fans - both new and long-standing - who have already embraced the WPT on their TV networks."

"They have watched several of their own rise to the top on the World Poker Tour, including Gavin Smith, the Season IV WPT Player of the Year, and Daniel Negreanu, the Season III WPT Player of the Year. We look forward to working in concert with the Fallsview Casino to establish the WPT Canadian Open as the premiere poker event in Canada."

The WPT Canadian Open will give recreational poker players a better chance to experience a big-time professional poker event by offering lower buy-ins for events and satellites. Other than that, the tournament will be run exactly like the WPT North American Poker Championships.

The buy-in for the event is $2,700 CAD. There are several satellite tournaments available including $50 events on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, as well as $330 events on Fridays and Saturdays until Oct. 21. A win at the $50 level earns the player a seat in a $330 event, and a win in the $330 event gets the player into the main event.

Satellite events are already underway at Fallsview and in poker rooms at other participating Ontario Lottery and Gaming casinos and charity casinos.

"Players taking part in the WPT Canadian Open will experience everything the professional WPT players experience - the bright lights, the TV cameras, the pressure - everything," said Greg Medulun, the manager of corporate communications for Fallsview. "Playing online and in regular casino games is one thing, but sitting where the stars sit with all eyes on you is quite another."

The players won't just have to worry about eyes on them. The Canadian Open final table will also be filmed for television. The players will play down to just six players by the end of Oct. 24. Then they will have to wait until the North American Poker Championship is completed before finally sitting down to play the final table in front of the cameras, giving the players the full WPT experience.

courtesy of Sarah Polson

News Added: 27 September, 2006

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