Coming this September, the World Poker Tour returns to The Star Gold Coast for the fourth edition of WPT Australia since 2019. The venue has become the new home of major live poker events in Australia and especially the WPT stops have seen a rapid increase in entry numbers throughout the last couple of editions.
For two weeks, The Star Gold Coast will host a live poker spectacle extraordinaire from September 12 to 25, 2024. Many eyes are firmly set on the 2024 WPT Australia Championship, in which the eventual winner will see their name engraved on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup. However, there are plenty of other tournaments available to accommodate players from near and far with different buy-in levels at their disposal.
A Look at WPT Australia Championship
Back in 2019, the series debuted for the first time and Hari Varma came out on top of a 658-entry strong field in the flagship A$2,500 WPT Australia Main Event. The entry fee more than doubled to A$5,400 for the next edition in September 2022 and drew a field of 710 entries with David Tang emerging as the champion.
Fast forward to 2023, the price tag increased once more to A$8,000 (~US$ 5,430) and a field of 600 entries created a prize pool of nearly A$4.5 million. Richard Lee defeated Aussie poker veteran Martin Kozlov in heads-up to claim the top prize of A$854,890 (~US $550,863). Many international players came for the last edition and the hopes are high that this will once again be the case.
WPT Australia Championship
The WPT Australia Championship buy-in will remain the same for this year – A$8,000 (~US $5,430) – and the crown jewel features a very deep structure with two starting days available on September 20 and 21. All players receive 50,000 in chips and the opening blinds will be 100-200 with a big blind ante of 200.
Both Day 1 heats will complete ten levels of 60 minutes each with the late registration available for the first nine levels and following break. From Day 2 to 4, the level duration increases to 90 minutes each, then returns to 60 minute levels for Day 5 and decreases to 30 minutes for the heads-up stage.
Day 1A: Sept 20, 2024 – 10 levels
Day 1B: Sept 21, 2024 – 10 levels
Day 2: Sept 22, 2024 – 7 levels
Day 3: Sept 21, 2024 – 7 levels
Day 4: Sept 21, 2024 – play down to 6-handed FT
Day 5: Sept 21, 2024 – play down to a winner
One in eight entries will be in the money (approximately 12.5% of the field). Furthermore, the winner will also receive an entry worth US $10,400 to the WPT World Championship held at the Wynn Las Vegas in December 2024. Another eight trophy events will include prize packages for a trip to Sin City to the eventual winner.
Further Notable Events on the Schedule
Right at the start of the series, local players from Australia and visitors from afar have the chance to win a trip to Sin City in December. In the A$1,500 Opening Event, the winner will receive an AUD$6,000 WPT World Championship package consisting of AUD$1,700 entry to the season-ending WPT Prime Championship Event and AUD$4,300 for travel expenses. The turbo structure features sixteen levels of 30 minutes in each of the two Day 1 and 45 minute levels thereafter.
Another event to certainly get a lot of attention features the latest crave in live poker events all over the world, the Mystery Bounty format. Event #5 Mystery Bounty comes with a price tag of A$1,650 and two starting days across September 14 and 15. Both flights will play to the money with the bounties coming into play on Day 2. The winner gets the same aforementioned A$6,000 package for a trip to Las Vegas, and if more than 400 entries emerge, another package will be added as mystery bounty prize.
Among the more pricey tournaments on the schedule are Event #7 A$5k 8-Max, Event #14 Super High Roller with a buy-in of A$20,000, as well as Event #18 10k World Championship Warm-Up. The latter awards a package for trip to Las Vegas in December worth A$20,000 in total. More affordable is Event #20 WPT World Champs Road to Vegas with a A$6,000 WPT Prime Championship up for grabs for the eventual winner.
Notable low-stakes tournaments also include the Ladies Australian Championship Event on September 17 and 18 with a price tag of A$675 as well as the Shane Warne Legacy Perpetual Trophy Event on September 19. The latter is a one-day freezeoout tournament with 20-minute levels in honor of the Australian cricket legend with a fierce affinity for poker.
Opening Event #1
Dates: Sept 12-15, 2024
Buy-In: A$1,500 (~US$ 1020)
Includes: A$6,000 WPT World Championship package for winner
Event #5: Mystery Bounty
Dates: Sept 14-16, 2024
Buy-In: A$1,650 (~US$ 1,120)
Note: A$500 to Bounty Pool
Day 1s play to ITM, bounties on final day
Includes: A$6,000 WPT World Championship package for winner
Event #7: $5K 8-Max
Dates: Sept 15-16, 2024
Buy-In: A$5,000 (~US$ 3,400)
Event #8: Outback Survivor Bounty
Dates: Sept 16-17, 2024
Buy-In: A$1,150 (~US$ 780)
Includes: A$6,000 WPT World Championship package for winner
Event #10 Ladies Australian Championship
Dates: Sept 17-18, 2024
Buy-In: A$675 (~US$ 460)
Includes: A$6,000 WPT World Championship package for winner
Event #13 Shane Warne Legacy Perpetual Trophy Event
Dates: Sept 19, 2024 – 20-min levels
Buy-In: A$880 (~US$ 600)
Event #14 Super High Roller
Dates: Sept 19-20, 2024
Buy-In: A$20,000 (~US$ 13,600)
Includes: A$20,000 WPT World Championship package for winner
Event #17 Mini Championship
Dates: Sept 22-23, 2024
Buy-In: A$2,000 (~US$ 1,360)
Includes: A$6,000 WPT World Championship package for winner
Event #18 $10k World Championship Warm Up
Dates: Sept 23-24, 2024
Buy-In: A$10,000 (~US$ 6,800)
Includes: A$20,000 WPT World Championship package for winner
Event #20 WPT World Champs Road to Vegas
Dates: Sept 24-25, 2024
Buy-In: A$1,150 (~US$ 1,180)
Includes: A$6,000 WPT World Championship package for winner
During the entire series, a diverse slate of live satellites are available to give the local poker community the opportunity to compete in major events at a fraction of the expense. Throughout the year so far, The Star Gold Coast has also held various other satellites and promotions especially towards the flagship WPT Australia Championship Event to boost the overall attendance.
This strategy has paid off for other major live poker events Down Under in the past and should play a pivotal role for the success of the 2024 WPT Australia stop once more. The series follows into the footsteps of a very intriguing 2024 WPT Prime Gold Coast earlier this year in April. Swiss cash game player Lorenz Schöllhorn came out on top of 1,395 entries in the A$2,000 WPT Prime Gold Coast Championship Event.
The WPT has already confirmed the dates the next stop of the mid-stakes tour from March 13 to 25, 2025, along with the next edition of the WPT Australia Championship from September 18 until October 1, 2025.
[Interview] Martin Coughlan Of The Star Gold Coast On Upcoming WPT Australia Championship
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*Article by Christian Zetzsche
Tricia David
Tricia David has long experience as a recreational poker player and has been covering poker events since 2010 for numerous outfits in Asia. She spent one year working part time with Poker Portal Asia then became editor and lead writer for all event coverage of the Philippine Poker Tour (PPT). Under the PPT, she overlooked content for their website, and produced live updates on all their events. In addition, she served as the live and online events website content writer for the Asian Poker Tour. Currently, she does live events reporting in Asia for online news site Somuchpoker and is also one of their news contributors.
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