WSOP and Tencent unveil WSOP China schedule

The 48th Annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas may have come and gone but on December 13 – 22, 2017, the world’s most prestigious poker brand will be hosting its first-ever WSOP China at the Shangri-La Resort & Spa in Sanya, Hainan Island, the country’s prime beach destination.

This past summer, the WSOP signed a multi-year agreement with Tencent – Asia’s largest technological firm that offers a wide variety of internet services, games, and social platforms. The deal between these two giants would bring WSOP’s brand of poker all over the Asian continent featuring the iconic WSOP gold bracelets and gold rings as part of the rewards.

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More: WSOP and Tencent join forces to spur poker growth in Asia

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Since the announcement, players have been eagerly awaiting details of the upcoming event, which was just unveiled last week.

Schedule of WSOP China

Unlike the mother festival with its abundance of poker games lined up, WSOP China will feature only 14 events, and all without entry fee. The only way to qualify into any of these events is through the online Tencent Poker app with free qualifiers offered every week leading up to the event. According to the WSOP news, more than 400 players have already earned their spot with an expected 800 players in total.

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

Tencent reaches top five in the world

While the recent unveiling of the WSOP China schedule had poker players from the host country filled with excitement, two days ago big news shook the world’s trading market as Tencent Holdings Ltd. slightly edged Facebook to become the 5th largest publicly-traded company in the world. They are now valued at US$523 billion.

With this kind of growth and performance in the region, it is of no surprise that the WSOP brand would want to link up with Tencent. Tencent is China’s leading internet service provider; they are also behind many popular apps and online games such as WeChat/Weixin, QQ, Qzone, Tenpay, King of Glory, Supercell, and the list goes on.

Since Tencent’s entrance into the poker arena, with efforts focused mainly in China, they have staged three world-class events aptly called the Tencent Poker Tournament (TPT).

Like the upcoming WSOP China, players had to qualify through the Tencent Poker app. All events were held in Sanya on every December since 2014.

WSOP China will be Tencent’s first joint event with a major poker brand. With the monstrous Chinese poker market literally at their palms, it looks like the start of a very promising and exciting poker future for both brands in Asia.

Article by Triccia David