Will Daniel Negreanu have the last laugh and remain BLUFF Player of the Year leader?
The BLUFF Player of the Year standings now features Daniel Negreanu in the lead, the first player this year to break 1,000 points. Can former leader Mike Watson overtake him? Could Ole Schemion, assume the top spot by playing few, if any events in the US? This week, Listed looks at twelve tournament series that could affect the 2013 BLUFF POY race.
1. Borgata Poker Open Main Event: September 15-20, Borgata, Atlantic City The $3,500 Main Event has drawn the biggest fields in the history of the World Poker Tour.
2. EPT London: Grand Connaught Rooms – October 2 – 12 A new venue, but expect the same full fields no matter where in London you hold the series. Besides the Main Event, a £10,000 High Roller and £50,000 Super High Roller are among the 33 events offering during ten days of tournament action.
3. World Series of Poker Europe: October 12-25, Casino Barriere – Enghien-Les-Baines, France A new location for the WSOPE takes players just outside of Paris with seven open WSOP bracelets available to players. Matthew Ashton currently leads the WSOP Player of the Year standings – powered by BLUFF – but Negreanu trails by 51.41 points. The €10,600 ($13,000 US) Main Event and the €25,600 ($33,000 US) High Roller will likely affect both the BLUFF and WSOP POY standings.
4. WSOP Circuit: Horseshoe Hammond – October 17 – 28 Located just outside of Chicago, the Hammond Horseshoe Casino is the most popular stop on the WSOP Circuit, smashing their own records for attendance each time they return. The $1,675 Main Event has a guaranteed prize pool of $2,000,000.
5. Asia Championship of Poker: October 18 – November 3, Macau In recent years, Macau has been THE place for high stakes cash game action. Tournament poker has boomed in the region as well, attracting the pro and businessman alike. The highlights of this series are the 100,000 HKD ($13,000 US) Main Event and the 250,000 HKD ($32,000 US) High Roller.
6. bwin.fr WPT Grand Prix de Paris: October 22 – November 3, Aviation Club de France The 7,500€ ($10,000 US) Main Event takes place just after the conclusion of the WSOPE Main Event, giving players another chance at poker glory on French soil.
7. Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza IV: October 31 – November 27 For the first time, the Venetian offers guaranteed prize pools for some of their tournaments. The $2,500 Main Event features a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool.
8. World Series of Poker November Nine: November 4-5, Las Vegas The resumption of the November Nine guarantees the winner earns over $8.3 million along with 675 BLUFF Player of the Year points. Amir Lehavot currently is in the best position to move up in the BLUFF POY standings. The WSOP bracelet winner would leap into second place from his current position – 279th place – with a win in the Main Event.
9. Master Classic of Poker: Amsterdam, Netherlands – November 8-16 Last year, Schemion continued his surge up the standings with his win in the Main Event here last year, just a few weeks after winning the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event in Cannes. The appearance of Dutch November Niner Michiel Brummelhuis means the series is delayed a week from its usual early November appearance on the calendar.
10. WPT Montreal: Playground Poker Club, Kahnawake QC November 18 – December 6 The first WPT Montreal Main Event drew over 1,100 entries, the largest field in the previous eleven seasons of WPT tournaments, outside of the Borgata.
11. WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic – Bellagio: November 29 – December 11 The Bellagio has seen better times as field sizes for their events have fallen dramatically. However, there may be enough Vegas regulars attending to create a decent-sized field chasing a WPT title.
12. EPT Prague December 8-18, WPT Prague December 15-19 Two worlds collide in Prague when the EPT and WPT both hold events at virtually the same time.. The 2012 BLUFF POY race was decided when Marvin Rettenmaier won the €10,000 EPT High Roller to overtake long-time leaderDan Smith.
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