WPT Championship Adds Super High Roller Event

When it comes to online poker, the high stakes ring game tables have always dominated the headlines. This year the live tournament scene took a page from that book and began offering more high roller events. As if that wasn’t enough, several of the largest tournaments took the high stakes craze one step further and introduced new super high roller events. Despite their astronomical buy-ins, these events have received an overwhelmingly positive response. Clearly the World Poker Tour has noticed, as it was announced today that the WPT Championship will now also include a super high roller.

The WPT Championship is slated to run from May 6-20 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The $25,000 Main Event will run from May 14-20, but before it concludes the new WPT World Championship Super High Roller final table will feature on May 19. The event will carry a steep $100,000 entry fee. While large, that buy-in is still far from the largest we’ve seen this year, what with the Aussie Millions unveiling their own new $250,000 Super High Roller event this winter.

Some believe the addition of this super high roller is risky because in the past the WPT has had a hard time getting players to pony up the $25k for the Main Event, let alone the $100,000 that’s now required to compete in the super high roller. Having said that, other industry analysts believe that these kind of changes are a necessity if the WPT wants to keep up with its main competitors and that the increased stakes will attract some of the heavier hitters that have thus far eluded the tour in favor of the WSOP and NAPT.

Thus far it looks like the super high roller supporters are right; only a day after announcing the new event pros like Erik Seidel, Dan Shak and Justin Smith have already committed to the $100,000 buy in. Furthermore, Fox Sports Net will be covering some of the event’s highlights including its final table. The WPT made another smart move when they scheduled the event, too, because it allows high rollers that bust out early in the Main Event competition a second chance at a significant pot.

If Las Vegas in May sounds good to you, but the $100,000 entry fee is a little too steep, then maybe you can swing the $500 entry fee attached to six of the Championships earlier events. And if even that’s too much for your weekend warrior budget, then plenty of online poker rooms are currently offering WPT Championship satellites, and it’s just a matter of time before one for the new Super High Roller is scheduled.

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