World Poker Tour Prime Taiwan: A Million Reasons – August 8 to 21 @Asia Poker Arena
The largest and most lucrative World Poker Tour (WPT) Prime Series in Asia has been unveiled! 46 trophy events and a jaw-dropping USD 1 Million Main Event guarantee are among the highlights of the recently announced WPT Prime Taiwan schedule. The event takes place from August 8 to 21, 2023 at the newly opened Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City. Make sure to mark your calendars as there are a long list of reasons why this event simply cannot be missed.
Just discovering WPT Prime?
If you are just hearing of WPT Prime, this is a great time to experience it. The WPT Prime Series is the brand’s newest format introduced last year. It offers premier poker tournament experience, akin that of a WPT Main Tour stop, at an affordable price.
Buy ins for the Taiwan series range from TWD 3,000 (~USD 97) to TWD 300,000 (~USD 9,770) which ensures there to be something for everyone. The series also features action clocks, final table livestreaming (at select stops), and the WPT Prime Championship Cup and Trophy which were first revealed in Vietnam last May.
WPT Prime Taiwan Guarantee-backed Events
Getting down to the heart of the schedule, WPT Prime Taiwan features four events backed by generous guarantees. The smallest is TWD 2,000,000 (~USD 65,150), the richest is USD 1,000,000. Here’s a closer look.
| # | Event | Guarantee | Buy in | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Main Event Warm Up | TWD 3,000,000 | TWD 10,000 | August 8-12 |
| 8 | Mystery Bounty | TWD 5,000,000 | TWD 16,500 |
August 11-13
|
| 19 | 8 Max Championship | TWD 2,000,000 | TWD 22,000 |
August 14-15
|
| 31 | MAIN EVENT | USD 1,000,000 | TWD 33,000 |
August 17-21
|
Main Event – USD 1,000,000 guarantee
Following a highly successful run in Vietnam where the Main Event surged past a million USD for a record breaking country prize pool, the WPT continues to aim high, announcing an ambitious USD 1 Million Main Event guarantee for Taiwan. This is the first time in history the WPT has announced a guarantee this large in Asia. Confidence is high for a back-to-back WPT seven figure prize pool. And as mentioned above, buy in is just TWD 33,000, equivalent to around USD 1,075.
To further display the worth of this event, WPT Prime Asia has produced five Main Event champions, each one winning hefty six figures plus a WPT World Championship seat worth USD 10,400. The WPT value-adds airfare and accommodation.
Main Event Warm Up – TWD 3,000,000 guarantee
The Main Event Warm Up kicks off the festivities with a TWD 3,000,000 (~USD 97,720) guarantee. This is the perfect event to get in some practice before the Main Event rolls in. TheME Warm Up will have the same structure as the Main Event. It runs for five days with the last day slated for the final table.
Mystery Bounty and 8 Max Championship
The other two events boasting guarantees are the Mystery Bounty TWD 5,000,000 (~USD 162,545) guarantee and the 8 Max Championship TWD 2,000,000 guarantee (~USD 65,150). Both are highly popular multi day events that will likely see the pot surge well past the mark.
High Roller Events
Scattered throughout the schedule are ten High Roller events with buy ins ranging from TWD 50,000 (~USD 1,630) to the costliest of TWD 300,000 (~USD 9,770). These events usually draw smaller fields populated by top pros, and generate immense prize pools.
| # | Event | Buy in | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Mini High Roller Warm Up | TWD 66,000 | August 8-9 |
| 9 | 2 Day High Roller Warm Up | TWD 50,000 | August 11-12 |
| 13 | Hyper Turbo High Roller | TWD 50,000 | August 12 |
| 15 | Mini High Roller | TWD 66,000 | August 13-14 |
| 23 | Megastack Single Day HR | TWD 100,000 | August 15 |
| 27 | CTP High Stakes Challenge | TWD 300,000 | August 16 |
| 32 | WPT Prime SHR | TWD 200,000 | August 17-18 |
| 36 | Turbo High Roller | TWD 66,000 | August 18 |
| 39 | Hyper Turbo High Roller | TWD 75,000 | August 19 |
| 41 | WPT Prime Taiwan HR 3K | TWD 100,000 | August 20-21 |
Over 30 Other Trophy Events
The WPT Prime Taiwan schedule is loaded with timeless NLH crowd favorites offering a variety of structures such as Turbos, Freezeouts, Deepstacks, Bounties, you name it. Also included are tournaments for Pot Limit Omaha enthusiasts. In addition, there is a Ladies Event, Seniors Event, and party favorite Supersonic NLH/Liar’s Dice event. In total, there are 32 other side events with buy ins from TWD 3,000 to TWD 35,000 for everyone to try to win a trophy.
WPT Player of the Festival
At every WPT Prime event, players have a chance at winning the coveted WPT Player of the Festival title. The player with the most points accrued at the end of the series wins a WPT Passport worth USD 5,000 to any WPT Main Tour in 2023. No other festival awards a prize this big for a single festival.
CTP Asia Poker Arena
In 2018-2019, Taiwan emerged as the newest hotspot for live poker festivals. International brands poured in to venue Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association (CTP) in Taipei until the pandemic hit. Despite the drawback, poker events continued to run and as soon as borders opened it was busier than ever that in May 2023, the CTP opened the Asia Poker Arena. The poker room is the biggest in Asia, and according to the owner David Tai, it can accommodate up to 65 tables.
Full House expected
At last year’s WPT Prime Taiwan, the Main Event drew a massive crowd that a second room had to be used to accommodate the queue. In the aftermath, there were a total of 877 entries. With the new poker room able to seat more than double the previous CTP Taipei room. the WPT still expects a full house, possibly even breaking the Prime record of 1,224 entries generated at the Gold Coast early this year.
For the full schedule, head to the WPT Prime Taiwan – Full Schedule.
