WSOP comes up with Pokerstars PCA ripoff, announces December bracelet series in Atlantis

https://twitter.com/WSOP/status/1681029049366495232


In case you're wondering how this bizarre series got going, here's what happened, from what I can surmise....


Last year, Matt Savage (a faithful PFA listener btw) ran an incredibly successful tournament at the Wynn. It took a lot of people by surprise, including me. Not only did the tournament do huge numbers, but it had wide variety of events beyond NL Holdem. Some people were dubbing it "The WSOP of the Winter", even though it has zero affiliation with WSOP, and no bracelets are awarded. As this series was well attended and well regarded, it is likely it will draw big numbers again this year, and probably for many years to come.

Caesars saw this and probably got jealous. There might also be some fear that, if the Wynn December tournament keeps growing, it might eventually grow to become a major competitor to the WSOP brand, to where some recreational players choose that one instead of the summer WSOP.

But how could WSOP fight this? It would be weird to hold more bracelet events in Las Vegas in December, as that has always been a one-series-per-year thing. And while WSOP Europe awards bracelets, most people in the US find it to be too far to travel to Europe to play poker, so attendance is limited. That definitely could not compete with WSOP Wynn. And Circuit events? Winning a ring is nice, but those are all over the place and all year round, and is not likely to draw anyone away from the Wynn.

Atlantis (an island in Bahamas, where the Pokerstars PCA ran for many years) was the perfect solution. It's very close to Florida, in a nice setting for the winter (when most of the country is cold), and people are familiar with it from the years the PCA was there.

Now people are already griping about the dates WSOP selected, forcing them to choose between this and the Wynn. Others are griping that 15 new bracelets at this event "further waters down the value of a bracelet", but that ship already sailed with the lol online events, especially those single-state online events such as Michigan.

Wil be interesting to see how this does. GGPoker, a partner of the WSOP, is the one running this, and presumably will be having a lot of satellites for it. That's why Negreanu and Elky are involved in promoting it.

I blame PokerGo handing out the hardware for GPI Best Event 2022 to the WPT. They must of thought giving Effel Best Industry person would have placated him enough. But No….this chapped his ass big time.



Of course the real winners are

1) The Vloggers & Influencers who will be able to rig more seat giveaways to all their buddies. There will be an arms race of free seat giveaways that will make last year look like they were giving away D Lucky Swag Bags.

And of course #2, Christmas comes early for…





Licking their chops already. Those boys will be cocked, locked and ready to rock.

How many incidents have there been of Bahamian authorities seizing cash? It would seem Atlantis would put pressure on them not to let this happen.

I've only heard of it happening the reverse direction -- US customs officials (sometimes based in Bahamas) seizing the money, through our civil forfeiture BS.

BTW, here is the timeline of the Pokerstars PCA:

2004: Was on a cruise ship

2005: The PCA moves to Bahamas, and is wildly successful. It took place in January. By this point, Pokerstars was huge, poker was huge, and many of the attendees were young guys (you only had to be 18) who had never traveled before without their parents.

2012: The PCA continues at Bahamas despite the April 2011 Black Friday busts, which made it so Americans could no longer play on Pokerstars. This meant almost all of Pokerstars' clientele was far from Bahamas, except those in eastern Canada. Americans can still attend, but not being Pokerstars customers anymore, it's not the same.

2017: With dwindling attendance by Americans, a soft decision was made to end it after that year. I got wind of it before it was fully decided (or publicly announced), and put out the rumor on Twitter and PFA. This annoyed Pokerstars executives, who did not want this public yet. They had to assure everyone that I was wrong, though at the time they were still strongly considering it.

2018: The PCA returns to Atlantis. I look like a fool for prematurely announcing its end.

2019: Pokerstars announces this will be the PCA's last year. I end up not looking like a fool anymore, as the reasons cited pretty much echo exactly what I claimed were why it was shutting down in 2017. They just waited 2 more years after first considering it.

2023: The PCA returns, but not to Atlantis. However, it's still in the Bahamas, at Baha Mar in Nassau.

Remember when the WSOP main event wasn’t in the boiling hot summer…and there weren’t 100 events.

Winter at the Wynn sounds great.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

How many incidents have there been of Bahamian authorities seizing cash? It would seem Atlantis would put pressure on them not to let this happen.

I've only heard of it happening the reverse direction -- US customs officials (sometimes based in Bahamas) seizing the money, through our civil forfeiture BS.

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You’re right Druff it’s technically US Customs in conjunction with the local police there. Screwed me up because I know they had the problem in the Bahamas and I think of going through US Customs when actually arriving back in the US.

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/2...g-pca-1584857/

Anyways, I was only half kidding. They will have Negreanu and his vlogs I’m sure. The power of GG behind it. I’m sure it will do well. I think competition has been great during the WSOP in Vegas. Having different options for all kinds of stakes. But I don’t think this really helps overall as just going & staying in the Bahamas is incredibly expensive. It’s not nearly the same as what has happened during the WSOP in Vegas. This you do have to choose one or the other.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Texter

Remember when the WSOP main event wasn’t in the boiling hot summer…and there weren’t 100 events.

Winter at the Wynn sounds great.

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December isn't that wonderful in Vegas, either.

It's cool (though not compared to a lot of the country), windy, and the sun sets before 4:30. Many nights are below freezing.

April, May, and October are the nice weather months in Vegas.

This year's Wynn event runs from 11/29/23 to 12/23/23.

Here was the schedule from last year: https://www.pokernews.com/tours/wpt/...s-vegas-42349/

You'll notice it had O8, PLO, 8-game Mix, and HORSE, in addition to NL Holdem. It also had Seniors (50+) and Ladies events. It also had the Mystery Bounty, which actually existed at Wynn before it appeared at the 2022 WSOP.

The 2023 schedule has not been announced, but the dates have already been established, as mentioned above.

Even Vanessa Kade agrees with me.



https://twitter.com/VanessaKade/stat...42947775557633

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Texter

Remember when the WSOP main event wasn’t in the boiling hot summer…and there weren’t 100 events.

Winter at the Wynn sounds great.

---

December isn't that wonderful in Vegas, either.

It's cool (though not compared to a lot of the country), windy, and the sun sets before 4:30. Many nights are below freezing.

April, May, and October are the nice weather months in Vegas.

This year's Wynn event runs from 11/29/23 to 12/23/23.

Here was the schedule from last year: https://www.pokernews.com/tours/wpt/...s-vegas-42349/

You'll notice it had O8, PLO, 8-game Mix, and HORSE, in addition to NL Holdem. It also had Seniors (50+) and Ladies events. It also had the Mystery Bounty, which actually existed at Wynn before it appeared at the 2022 WSOP.

The 2023 schedule has not been announced, but the dates have already been established, as mentioned above.

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I’m intrigued a little depending on schedule at the Wynn exactly and buy ins. I’m going to Vegas for a late 50th Birthday trip at this point. (bday is early Dec but I have family planning a trip from East Coast before Christmas).

I’m talking way back in the day when the WSOP was in April-May at Binnions…was up until 2005.

Much better time to be in Vegas than July. When Helmuth won there were 13 events.

2005 payouts….Mike came into the final table in 4th and bedshitted his way to last….still good payout for his backers.



Place Name Prize
1st Joe Hachem $7,500,000
2nd Steve Dannenmann $4,250,000
3rd John "Tex" Barch $2,500,000
4th Aaron Kanter $2,000,000
5th Andy Black $1,750,000
6th Scott Lazar $1,500,000
7th Daniel Bergsdorf $1,300,000
8th Brad Kondracki $1,150,000
9th Mike Matusow $1,000,000

2005 was at the Rio.

I know this because that's where I won my bracelet.

Anyway, people are starting to get concerned about the money seizures in Atlantis, but a lot of people are misunderstanding. I posted this thread to clear things up.

https://twitter.com/ToddWitteles/sta...72616717766656
https://twitter.com/ToddWitteles/sta...73749708337160
https://twitter.com/ToddWitteles/sta...74608928292865

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

2005 was at the Rio.

I know this because that's where I won my bracelet.

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Final table of the main was at Binions

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Texter

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

2005 was at the Rio.

I know this because that's where I won my bracelet.

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Final table of the main was at Binions

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Yeah that's true. Forgot about that.