WPT Tournament of Champions Gets Massive Overhaul

Every major tournament series has a finale that culminates at the end. The WSOP has the Main Event, and the WPT has the WPT Championship. Well, they had the WPT Championship until now. What once was a long running tradition on the WPT, is now being replaced with the WPT Tournament of Champions. It may sound like just a name change to a stale tournament; but in reality, it's getting a complete overhaul in attempts to make the tournament more appealing. Many wondered why pros would fork over the hefty $15,000 buy in to play against the best players in the world. For poker professionals, to play against the best, it needs to be more rewarding. And to be honest, $15,000 buy-ins are chump change for most that would enter. Hence, the new, drastic changes to help generate not only more buzz around the event, but attract more players. The first significant change is the announcement of $100,000 added to the prize pool by the WPT. Anytime a tournament has an overlay; it immediately has appeal. When you have $100,000 in overlays, it turns heads. Not only will there be a massive overlay, but sponsors are also kicking in to give away some pricey, and luxury items to lure competitors to the tables. Primary sponsors – Monster Headphones, have announced their addition to the prize pool. A 2016 Chevrolet Corvette going to the winner of the WPT Tournament of Champions. The prizes don't stop there either. Entrants can win a plethora of exciting prizes. A few of them include a Hublot custom watch, an Aurae Gold MasterCard, custom poker tables, a pair of Monster 24K Gold Headphones, and a round of golf at Shadow Creek along with a seat in the Tiger Woods charity poker tournament. If you add in the value of these fabulous prizes, the overlay goes much higher than the stated $100,000. This alone should be enough to get the blood flowing, and at least, entertain the idea of playing in the WPT Tournament of Champions. Just in case there are a few players on the fence, the WPT has announced other changes that should be the icing on the cake. All players who have a won an event on the WPT in season XIV automatically qualify for the main event. Being an invitation-only event that is open to members of the WPT Champions Club (previous WPT winner), those entries can now be paid, rake-free! That's right; WPT made the announcement that no rake for anyone paying the $15,000 entry fee. This is almost unheard of in the poker world. The WPT Tournament of Champions is set to begin on April 22nd at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Florida. The final stop of Season XIV for the WPT this year.