The World Poker Tour (WPT), in collaboration with TexaPoker, has announced three WPT Prime stops in France and Italy as part of its upcoming 2024 season. WPT Prime Aix-en-Provence, Sanremo, and Paris are all confirmed after successful debuts during 2023.
Although it is only natural that big buy-in tournaments grab the attention of the poker community, the more affordable WPT Prime events are deserving of some eyes on them. The WPT Prime Main Events cost €1,100 – or local currency equivalent – and it is evident from the bumper attendances throughout 2023 that there is huge demand for mid-stakes tournaments.
2023 WPT Prime Results
The 2023 WPT Prime season kicked off in Paris, where 1,071 entrants created a €1,028,160 prize pool. Fabrice Bigot ensured the winner’s trophy stayed in France, with Bigot collecting €177,240 for his victory, which was the largest live haul of his career at the time. Less than a month later, Bigot finished third in the European Poker Tour Paris Main Event for a new career-high score worth €535,850.
WPT Prime set sail around the world following the popular Paris leg, stopping off in Australia and Cambodia before returning to mainland Europe with WPT Prime Amsterdam. Exactly 1,000 players enter WPT Prime Amsterdam at the Holland Casino, and Germany’s Philip Hollederer outlasted them all, padding his bankroll with an impressive €161,552.
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Stops in India, Slovakia, and Vietnam followed before WPT Prime dropped anchor in Sanremo, Italy, Aix-en-Provence, and Taiwan. Perhaps the most surprising leg of the tour – surprising in a positive light – was the 1,644-strong turnout for WPT Prime Liechtenstein, a tiny country not usually known for live poker. Hungarian David Kozma will always look back on Liechtenstein with happy memories, as would you had you banked the equivalent of $253,399 and the title of WPT Prime champion.
Only one WPT Prime event remains on the 2023 calendar. It takes place at the Wynn Las Vegas in December part of the WPT World Championship festival. The WPT Prime Championship comes with the usual $1,100 buy-in, but the World Poker Tour has placed a massive $5 million guarantee on its prize pool.
| Event | Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WPT Prime Paris | €1,100 | 1,071 | €1,028,160 | Fabrice Bigot | €177,240 |
| WPT Prime Gold Coast | A$2,000 | 1,224 | A$2,206,639 | Sheng Ye | A$374,953 |
| WPT Prime Cambodia | $1,100 | 1,011 | $970,270 | Kono Reiji | $121,331 |
| WPT Prime Amsterdam | €1,100 | 1,000 | €959,618 | Philip Hollederer | €161,552 |
| WPT Prime India | ₹65,000 | 857 | ₹50,648,700 | Prasit Chowdhury | ₹8,600,000 |
| WPT Prime Slovakia | €1,100 | 552 | €529,920 | Mate Sandor | €109,660 |
| WPT Prime Vietnam | ₫25,000,000 | 1,151 | ₫25,099,729,000 | Duy Thuc Nguyen | ₫4,173,000,000 |
| WPT Prime Sanremo | €1,100 | 838 | €804,480 | Simone Andrian | €147,020 |
| WPT Prime Aix-en-Provence | €1,100 | 457 | €438,720 | Samy Boujmala | €83,180 |
| WPT Prime Taiwan | NT$33,000 | 1,359 | NT$39,546,900 | Seonguk Huh | NT$6,652,200 |
| WPT Prime Liechtenstein | SFr 1,100 | 1,644 | SFr 1,644,000 | David Kozma | SFR 224,953 |
| WPT Prime Madrid | €1,100 | 396 | €366,758 | Oscar Gironella | €67,461 |
WPT Prime Returns to France and Italy in 2024
January 26, 2024 is when the 2024 WPT Prime season commences, doing so at the Casino Grand in Aix-en-Provence, France. Samy Boujmala is the reigning champion, having left 456 opponents in his wake on the way to reeling in an €83,180 score in August.
Next year’s WPT Prime Sanremo takes between May 31 and June 10, 2024 at the Casino di San Remo. Some 838 players bought into the 2023 edition, and Italian bracelet winner Simone Andrian came out on top. His reward? €147,020. Three weeks after his WPT Prime victory, Andrian triumphed in the €1,100 PokerStars Summer Festival Malta Main Event, and scooped an additional €153,610.
The third stop confirmed for the 2024 WPT Prime season is a return to the French capital, Paris. The stop served as the curtain raiser in 2023, but is put back to mid-October in 2024. As previously mentioned, Fabrice Bigot was the last player standing in the 2023 edition, his first place coming with a hefty €177,240 payday.
Now Is The Time to Join WPT Global
Although the World Poker Tour is pushing online satellites on its France-facing online poker partner, it would be a significant shock if WPT Global did not offer its WPT Prime Passport for the trio of confirmed events.
Throughout 2023, WPT Global players have been able to turn a tiny investment into a WPT Prime Passport worth $1,500, enough to cover a Main Event’s buy-in and leave some spare cash for travel and accommodation. Unsurprisingly, WPT Global is aggressively pushing its satellites to the $40 million guaranteed WPT World Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas right now, but expect WPT Prime satellites to resume once that gargantuan event is done and dusted.
Speaking of which, PokerNews‘ streamer Lukas “RobinPoker” Robinson is hosting an exclusive freeroll on WPT Global on October 14 that has a $12,400 WPT World Championship package in its prize pools. We urge anyone that has a WPT Global account or lives in a country where WPT Global is available to get involved because the value is nothing short of incredible.
