The Asian poker boom just took on a whole new meaning this year as the WSOP teamed up with Chinese tech and gaming firm Tencent to bring the WSOP brand to the most populous nation on earth – and now the schedule has been released for the first-ever WSOP China due to kick off on December 13th.
Speaking of the first live event to be held following the announcement of the deal back in July, WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart said:
“We are thrilled with what we have seen thus far. This truly is the ultimate social experiment." He explained: "By socializing poker, we have put everyone on an even playing field to test their skills and make this about fun and achievement. When all is said and done, we will have succeeded in exposing poker to millions in Asia and teach them the fun and excitement of this great game.”
The Shangri-La Resort and Spa in Sanya, the coastal town which hosted the recent WPT China festival, will be the venue for the 14 events, and the lack of any advertised buy-in will confuse many – but there is a simple reason behind it.
In China, playing poker for money is ‘officially illegal’ although as Pokerlaws.org point out, ‘it’s not illegal to gamble in China per se, as long as you weren’t gambling as a profession, which is something that poker players do need to take heed of, as many poker players do play professionally.’
For the WSOP and Tencent deal, this means that ‘WSOP China is a series of tournaments for those who have previously qualified via the Tencent Poker app and and all the online qualifiers on Tencent Poker and the live poker tournaments at WSOP China are free to play.’
The schedule for those who make it through the online qualification stages can be seen below.
Schedule:
- Event #1: No-Limit Hold’em Warm Up – December 13, 12pm
- Event #2: Tencent Poker Madness Online – December 13, 7pm
- Event #3: Main Event No-Limit Hold’em Day 1A – December 14, 12pm
- Event #3: Main Event No-Limit Hold’em Day 1B – December 15, 12pm
- Event #4: No-Limit Hold’em (one-day event) – December 14, 2pm
- Event #5: Pot Limit Omaha – December 15, 2pm
- Event #6: No-Limit Hold’em Turbo – December 15, 4pm
- Event #7: No-Limit Hold’em Mini Event – December 16, 2pm
- Event #8: No-Limit Hold’em Turbo – December 17, 2pm
- Event #9: No-Limit Hold’em Mini Event – December 17, 5pm
- Event #10: No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack – December 18, 2pm
- Event #11: No-Limit Hold’em KO Bounty – December 19, 2pm
- Event #12: No-Limit Hold’em Elite Cup – December 20, 3pm
- Event #13: Ladies No-Limit Hold’em – December 21, 4pm
- Event #14: 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em – December 22, 1pm