With Australia being one of the world’s success stories in this pandemic, local citizens have begun to see glimpses of an anticipated return to normalcy. Non-essential businesses including the live poker industry have since made great leaps to recovery, ultimately aiming to make 2021 a way better year than its previous one.
Live poker has made a return in earlier months with events like the Poker Palace Summer Championships held in Sydney’s Club Marconi well-received by local poker players. Success in these earlier ventures are encouraging as major operators such as the World Poker Tour, Australian Poker League and Australian Poker Tour are lined up in following with the goal to give the local poker community an exciting year ahead. In addition to the upcoming festivities, another great news awaits local enthusiasts as the Crown Poker Room opens its doors once again.
Cards back in the air at Crown Melbourne
A refreshing comeback for the live poker scene, Australia’s biggest poker room has announced its reopening on April 23rd, 4pm. Home to the Aussie Millions series, the Crown Poker Room will operate at a strictly limited capacity of a maximum of 6 players at a table. Cash games offered will include variants of Holdem and PLO with price points beginning at AUD 1/ 3. Operational tables in the venue will also be capped at a maximum of 16 tables with an allotment of 12 additional tables available in Satellite Central on Fridays and Saturdays.
Only 24 hours to go!
Join us tomorrow from 4pm when The Crown Poker Room reopens!
Strictly limited capacity, see website for details.https://t.co/zJ7wfUA2re pic.twitter.com/3KS24yEK7e
— Crown Poker (@CrownPoker) April 22, 2021
With the threat of the Covid-19 virus still existent, Crown assured its loyal customer base that its response will remain in line with government mandates and expert health advice while continuing to adapt as the situation evolves. So far, local players will have to wait a bit longer for tournaments to make a comeback in this prime location. Crown Poker advised November of 2020 that the scheduling of its annual Aussie Millions series and other poker events was placed on hold until further notice due to the pandemic. Nonetheless, players can relish the fact that the reopening signifies a huge step for the live poker scene and a higher possibility for festivals to take place in the near future.
“The health and safety of our community – including our employees, guests and players is Crown Melbourne’s number one priority. At this stage, no jackpots, tournaments or private Poker bookings are available. We thank you for your patience and look forward to returning to normal operating procedures when it is deemed safe for us to do so”, stated in its announcement.
WPTDeepStacks Gold Coast to kick off this May
While the Aussie Millions remains on hold, poker players can gladly shift their attention to another awaited major series coming next month. The WPTDeepStacks Gold Coast leg scheduled from May 21-31, 2021 will feature a total of ten events throughout its 11-day line-up. To be held in The Star Gold Coast, players can jump in the events with buy-ins ranging from AUD 330 (~USD 255) to as high as AUD 5,000 (~USD 3,868) for the WPTDeepStacksGold Coast 5K Challenge event.
The awaited series is set to circle around its multi-day WPTDeepStacks Gold Coast Main Event beginning on May 27th. Three starting flights are on schedule with each posting an entry fee of AUD 1,500 (~USD 1,160). Players with lower bankrolls are welcome to qualify for as low as AUD 175 (~USD 135) across the multitude of satellites to be hosted each day on schedule. A 2021 WPT champion will be crowned on its concluding day along with the lion’s share of the promising prize pool.
WPTDeepStacks Gold Coast Full Schedule
Full line-up of events for APL and APT
Possibly the biggest poker festival of the year, the Australian Poker Tour prepares for its hopeful return set out at The Cube in Campbelltown, Sydney this coming June 21-27, 2021. The exciting series features an impressive line-up of 31 events across its 7-day schedule with entries ranging from AUD 60 (~USD 46) to AUD 5,000 (~USD 3,868) for the Extreme High Roller event.
Over AUD 1.75 million (~USD 1.35 million) in prizes are estimated to be given away to its lucky winners including its Main Event estimated to cover at least AUD 300,000 (~USD 232,130) in prizes. With an entry fee of AUD 600 (~USD 464), players can jump in the first starting flight on June 23rd continuing through June 26th for a total of four day1 flights.
Other highlights of the upcoming APT Sydney are as follows:
| Date | Time | Event | Buy-in (AUD) |
| June 21, 2021
(Monday) |
12:00 pm | #1: Opening Event – 2x re-entry | $150 ($130+20) |
| 6:00 pm | #3: Celebrity Knockout Bounty Event | $300 ($300+50) | |
| June 22, 2021
(Tuesday) |
12:00 pm | #6: The Goliath | $2,500 ($2250+250) |
| 6:00 pm | #7: 6-Max ShotClock | $660 ($600+60) | |
| June 23, 2021
(Wednesday) |
1:00 pm | #10: Campbelltown Catholic Club Deepstack | $120 ($100+20) |
| 8:00 pm | #14: APT Sydney 6-Max Shootout | $120 ($100+20) | |
| June 24, 2021
(Thursday) |
12:00 pm | #15: The Accelerator | $120 ($100+20) |
| 1:00 pm | #16: APT Sydney Players Championships | $1,000 ($850+150) | |
| 7:00 pm | #18: NLH Rebuy | $120 ($100+20) | |
| June 25, 2021
(Friday) |
1:00 pm | #20: The Grind | $1,200 ($1,050+150) |
| 8:00 pm | #22: Thrifty Rentals Big Bounty Game | $100 ($35+50+15) | |
| June 26, 2021
(Saturday) |
11:00 am | #23: Enlighten Homeloans National Teams | $350 ($300+50) per team |
| 2:00 pm | #24: The Pokershop 200 | $200 ($175+25) | |
| 3:00 pm | #25: Big PLO – High Roller | $1,200 ($1,050+150) | |
| June 27, 2021
(Sunday) |
12:00 pm | #28: APT Sydney – The Beast | $450 ($400+50) |
| 1:00 pm | #29: King Playing Cards Megastack | $80 ($60+20) |
Aside from the APT Sydney, another popular tournament among its local player base is making its tour around Australia starting next week. The Australian Poker League will begin its mark from Melbourne hosting a 19 event line-up over a 5-day schedule. A massive AUD 200,000 (~USD 154,753) guaranteed prize pool is set for its AUD 180 (~USD 140) Main Event with starting flights spread out across five different local venues.
Following that of its festivities in Club Italia Sporting Club, the APL Tour will continue to Sydney, Queensland and further on as noted below for its current line-up of events. With dates packed full of poker action, Australian players will see quite a busy time ahead as the live scene begins to thrive throughout the state.
| Dates | Event | Venue |
| April 28 – May 2, 2021 | APL Poker Tour Victoria II | Club Italia, St Albans, VIC |
| May 11-16, 2021 | APL Poker Tour Sydney | Castle Hill RSL |
| June 9-13, 2021 | APL Poker Tour Queensland II | Southport Sharks |
| October 17-24, 2021 | APL Ville 600 | The Ville Resort-Casino, Townsville |
| TBC | APL Poker Tour Tasmania | TBC |
| TBC | APL Poker Tour Adelaide | TBC |
