“We are beyond excited to be announcing the resurgence of our most iconic charity event,” said Alexandre Meunier, One Drop Foundation’s Chief Marketing and Events Officer. He added, “It is an incredible feeling to be able to have the support of WPT and the Wynn to run our fifth edition of the Big One. There is always a palpable buzz in the air during the lead-up to the one-million-dollar affair. The magnitude of the buy-in, of the prize pool, and also of the funds that are directed to the crucial cause of access to safe water makes the Big One the event of all superlatives.”

As part of the new partnership, there will be three charity events taking place over the coming months that will raise funds for the One Drop Foundation:

The WPT World Championship at the Wynn Casino will be a spectacular setting for the return of the Big One For One Drop, which will distribute millions of dollars in prizes and raise money so that areas most in need can have sustainable access to water.

“The Big One for One Drop is such an iconic tournament in the world of poker. We are honored to put on this incredible event in conjunction with the One Drop Foundation and Wynn Las Vegas,” said WPT CEO Adam Pliska. “The $1 million buy-in is a testament to the heights this industry can reach and the continuous evolution of the World Poker Tour.”

The Story of the Big One For One Drop

The million-dollar event made its debut in 2012 during the WSOP. That year 48 people took part, creating a prize pool of $42.6M. The nine finalists were awarded and among them were Mike Sexton (ninth), Brian Rast (sixth), Phil Hellmuth (fourth) and Sam Trickett (second).

The champion was Antonio Esfandiari, achieving the highest prize for a poker player up to that moment: $18.3M. Antonio celebrated by standing on top of the table and them jumping off directly on to his rail cheering him on. After that, he hugged his father with tears in his eyes and gave him the newly-won bracelet.

In 2014 the tournament returned. This time there were 42 players, with a prize pool of $37.3M. Daniel Colman defeated Canadian Daniel Negreanu in the heads-up final to become champion, earning $15.3M. The Canadian had to settle for an $8.2M for second place prize.

During that tournament an incredible bad beat happened where two pairs of aces met pre-flop and Cary Katz hit a flush eliminating Connor Drinan from the tournament. You can see the hand here:

In 2016 the Big One for One Drop left the United States and was instead played in Monte Carlo, with 28 people paying the €1M buy-in and playing for a €24.8M prize pool. Elton Tsang from Hong Kong was the winner and accepted a huge prize of €11.1M ($12.2M).

The last edition of the Big One for One Drop was held in 2018 during the WSOP in Las Vegas. It garnered 27 players, distributing $24.8M in prizes. Justin Bonomo was having the best year of his career and confirmed it by winning this tournament, earning $10M. Fedor Holz placed second and Dan Smith finished on the podium in third.

In December we will learn whether the new venue of the Wynn and the framework of the World Poker Tour World Championship will result in the largest field yet of Big One For One Drop players. Will we have a new record prize in poker history? We can’t wait to find out.

WPT Vietnam was chosen because it was the debut Prime stop in 2022. This year’s WPT Prime Vietnam Main Event begins today, May 25th, and will have three starting flights. The buy-in will be $1,000 and the event will offer a guaranteed prize pool of $511,000.

After months of working with multiple designers and production companies, the WPT chose the “Ballerina” design because of the beautiful flow of its wings, and its uncanny resemblance to the Main Tour cup. The Main Tour Cup, renamed The Mike Sexton Champions Cup in July 2020, is a coveted and well-recognized trophy in the poker community. It was renamed in honor of Mike Sexton, longtime WPT Commentator. Every WPT champion has their name permanently inscribed on the cup along with the winning hand from each player’s victory.

Mike Sexton, of course, was inducted into the Poker Hall of Famer in 2009 and was the WPT Honors recipient in 2017. Sexton recorded $6,708,146 in live tournament earnings during his career. One of his biggest prizes was for the 2006 No Limit Hold’em tournament at the WSOP Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas for $1 million after nabbing first place. In 2009, Sexton along with Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher and Lisa Tenner, created PokerGives.org, a nonprofit organization that provides a way for poker players and the poker industry to give back to various charities.

The Prime Trophy may mirror the Mike Sexton Champions Cup but with one difference. Instead of every player being inscribed on the cup, the trophy will display a QR code at its center, which will link to a Prime Champions page on the World Poker Tour website. The WPT Prime perpetual trophy will travel to every Prime Tour stop, and a replica of that trophy will be awarded to each Prime main event winner to take home.

The WPT Prime Perpetual Trophy’s Evolution and Significance

While the trophy is new, the WPT had always wanted to create something special for their mid-major tour. When it was decided to revamp the entire Tour in 2021, introducing WPT Prime, it provided the perfect opportunity to execute this longtime goal. Cardplayer Lifestyle spoke with Adam Pliska, President and CEO of the WPT about the significance of the new trophy.

Why was the creation of this trophy important to the World Poker Tour?

Considering the significance and recognizability that the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup has embodied over the years, we have always dreamed of creating a similar, iconic piece. With the evolution of WPT in 2021, we saw the revamping of WPTDeepStacks into the WPT Prime as the perfect opportunity to implement another one-of-a-kind trophy to the tour.

Can you elaborate on the significance of the trophy design mirroring the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup but also having its own image?

I could not tell you how many design options we went through before landing on the perfect one. To be honest, we were not necessarily looking to create the Prime trophy in the image of the Champions Cup at first. However, when the ‘Ballerina’ concept was presented to us, we instantly saw the resemblance and knew our heart was set on that direction. The individuality of the design was of course important to distinguish the two tours and the most significant difference is the unique QR code capability that comes with the new Prime trophy.

What are your aspirations for this tour in the future?

The Prime Tour has only just begun. We aspire to continuously expand its reach to bring the WPT experience to all corners of the world. Along with that notion, we would like to foster longstanding partnerships that become staples of the tour, festivals that players look forward to year after year. WPT Prime is a great entry point for players that can lead them toward a deeper journey into their poker aspirations.

Thus, the WPT Prime Trophy will in essence be shared by all poker players, as it travels to each stop on the tour. The hope for many will now become to have their own version of the trophy to bring home.

But then I got to thinking… perhaps there’s more to the story than meets the eye. Maybe the news is an indication that much like the World Poker Tour has upped its overall game over the last year, charitable fundraising could really be taken to the next level as part of this partnership, too.

The likelihood of this was confirmed when I reached out for comment from WPT CEO Adam Pliska, who said “We think when all is said and done, the poker community will be very excited by what this partnership leads to and ultimately that will lead to even more funds being raised for One Drop’s mission of ensuring access to safe water for people across the globe.”

The wheels in my head have been spinning for a little while and I’ve come up with a list of a few things that would really be great for the poker world to see result from this new partnership.

1. Return of the Big One for One Drop

This is a no brainer. Getting players to pony up $1 million apiece for a seat in a poker tournament is just as amazing a feat in 2023 as it was when the Big One for One Drop first debuted in 2012. The event has been staged eight times, with four of those featuring a $1 million buy-in and the other four featuring a $111,111 buy-in. It would stand to reason that the World Poker Tour would aim to bring back this special event at the higher $1 million price point.

As for what else would make this event’s return super special, the potential entry of all-time poker greats such as WPT ambassadors Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey, coupled with the reemergence of One Drop Foundation founder Guy Laliberte to the poker world alone makes such an event that much more headline-grabbing.

Top it all off with the WPT’s state-of-the-art production and storytelling flair, and you’ll have an event that won’t just be excellently staged in real time, but that will live on as a visual on-screen spectacle for ages.

2. Return of the Little One for One Drop

Another no brainer, staging a $1,111 event allows folks with more modest bankrolls to also partake in the charitable poker giving. To further enhance the event’s prestige, perhaps the WPT could consider producing a final table broadcast for this one, too.

Beyond the inherent added value of having $111 of each buy-in donated to a very worthy cause, the players could also receive some added value if all those players who’d make the (televised or live streamed) final table would also be rewarded with seats to…

3. All-New $11,111 High Roller for One Drop

Here’s an idea for the WPT and One Drop Foundation to chew on. A 5-figure buy-in level has thus far been absent as a special event in the One Drop repertoire.

Plenty of folks from poker’s high roller circuit would likely jump into this one without having the stress of risking (or putting together a staking package for) a 6-figure sum.

Collecting $1,111 for charity from each entrant naturally would add far more than just another drop in the proverbial bucket to the joint WPT-One Drop Foundation fundraising efforts.

While we’re shining the spotlighting on this partnership, let’s also be sure that the final table of this event gets TV/broadcast treatment, too.

And if it’s possible for there to be a seat added for the event’s winner to the Big One for One Drop, well then that would just be brilliant.

4. One Drop in the MUG

Much ado was rightfully made of the incredible, one-of-a-kind WPT Premier Meet Up Game (MUG) that kicked off last year’s WPT World Championship festivities.

Surely reproducing it would be awesome, but how do you top it? Maybe by adding a charity component.

I would love to see the Wynn get on board with this initiative by agreeing, just during the WPT Premier MUG, to (the admittedly tongue-in-cheek) “No Drop for the House” and having the cash game rake donated to the One Drop Foundation. This would be a beautiful gesture that’s by definition a win for all parties involved, including the players.

And for the value adds? What could be more appropriate than awarding to participants randomly drawn special prizes of a 1% piece of a WPT ambassador’s action to any One Drop tournaments they compete in?

Conclusion

The fact of the matter is that pretty much anything done in the poker world that would help increase charitable fundraising is by definition a good thing. The World Poker Tour has proven time and again that when it puts its full organizational weight and effort into an idea, amazing things can happen.

Further per Pliska, “The WPT Foundation has been a tremendous success for WPT charitable initiatives and by partnering with the One Drop Foundation, we think we have demonstrated a commitment to working with them to continue their great work and elevate charity poker.”

Whether it’s via any of the ideas I came up with, or something else unexpected out of left field, it will be great to see the WPT propel charitable fundraising for the One Drop Foundation to the next level in the coming years.

That said, we don’t know nearly as much about Alex herself, as she’s usually on the interviewing side of the mic rather than being the interviewee. I was grateful to have had the opportunity to sit with Alex for about half an hour, where she was kind enough to devote some time away from her duties to allow Cardplayer Lifestyle fans to get to know her a little better.

I hope you enjoy our conversation, a transcript of which is included below.

Interview Transcript

Good morning. It is December 18th and we are sitting here in the Wynn, Las Vegas Casino Resort and Hotel with Alex Gray, presenter for the WPT. I believe that’s your official title. Presenter? Cast Member? Talent? What would you call yourself?

They call me talent, but I call myself presenter and host.

And I think you’re also an actress, too, right? You went to acting school?

I took acting courses, so technically I went to acting school. But not an official three-year-long course. But I did a lot of acting at school. I had a drama scholarship. And, when I left, I did some screen courses, I did some Meisner technique courses. That sort of thing.

Prior to going to school and studying, were you always performing in front of family and taking center stage?

You know I wasn’t really. I was always very quiet as a child. Being on stage gave me that access card to be myself and have the spotlight on me. But when I was younger, I was kind of bullied. So I was quite quiet and timid. Although I always spoke my opinion and didn’t follow the crowd. So when I was onstage performing it was like this is my zone. No one’s being mean to me. No one’s going to judge me – well they will – but not at that moment in time. So, it was a weird kind of an escape for me.

So you saw it on TV — saw actors performing — and you said “I want to do that”?

No. Not even. I just got into it at school and just loved it. Just loved being these weird characters and different people.

I was reading a bio of yours somewhere. It says “she grew up in Suffolk, horse riding and running around in the forest. Admitting she’s a bit of a tomboy, Alex really loves adventure and team sports, like rugby, and describes herself as a people person.” Tell us about that stuff.

Well, I did play rugby growing up. Only for a year or two. Because at my primary school, it was such a tiny school. So there was a period of time that there weren’t enough boys to fill out the whole team. This was contact rugby. So we were like 10 or 11 years old. So you know, it’s not big teenage boys. So yeah, I got recruited to be on the team. It was just me and my best friend like really tomboyish and just got stuck in. So Mr. Norris was the teacher who really took us under his wing. I have good memories of him teaching us to tackle and getting mud all over me. I thought it was great. I wouldn’t do it now, but…

You’re still into sports in general, like fitness and that sort of thing.

Yeah. Horse riding. That’s a massive one. I love running as well. I’m part of a run club. And yoga.

And tennis, right?

I can’t play tennis.

No?

I’m ok. I’m ok. I wouldn’t say it’s my strong sport.

Didn’t you play against Andy Ram?

Oh yeah, I did play against Andy Ram. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That’s my countryman from Israel, so. It’s like I saw that video. He’s big into raising money for charity from poker and stuff, too. He’s a good dude.

Oh yeah, he’s so nice.

So how did you first come to work for WPT? You said it’s been four years.

By accident, I guess. I had just quit my office job and was applying for loads of presenting roles to try to break into that realm. And I just so happened to see a job offer, I think it was on LinkedIn or something like that, by the World Poker Tour. I applied and I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. I was under the impression that it would be a very casual thing, like maybe one gig a year.

And all the sudden I am literally back to back doing every European stop. And it was just like this crazy whirlwind about two years before COVID. I just blinked and I was like I just got 100 countries under my belt.

Crazy. What was the office job?

I was a project manager at a digital media agency. It was boring. I hated it. I was there seven months and then I wrote a little letter for my manager. He was like “you’re doing so well” and I said “But I can’t. This is not the life for me.”

Alex Gray (@alexogray) is back with more Flex with Alex to stay mentally balanced at the table. This time, Alex provides tips to keep tilt away during a session https://t.co/RZ4ei9OTPE#WPTOnline

— World Poker Tour (@WPT) May 24, 2021

The office life specifically. The 9 to 5. That sort of thing?

I was just so bored. I would catch myself looking out the window, looking at planes flying by, imagining a life I could be living. Because I just knew that being in that chair and staring at Excel sheets all day was not going to do it for me.

I’ve got something similar. It’s true. I did that office life for many years. And now I just sit at home. But it’s my own home.

But it’s in your own house. Doing what you love. I work seven days a week now. I mean, it’s non-stop. But I love it. So it’s different.

Someone with that skillset, presenting and in front of the camera, you could have done that in a number of industries. What is it about the poker industry that particularly attracted you?

At first it was the travel. Originally the job started off more “You’re going to go to San Remo in Italy and we want you to create three videos about what you can do in San Remo and why players should come there.” So that was my role. And I didn’t know anything about poker. I’ll be very transparent. But slowly I got deeper and deeper into the depths of the world of poker. Now I play. Now I find myself in three-hour long holes on YouTube watching poker videos.

Those Hustler Casino Live videos, for instance, have been great. They’ve done a great job with them. Lots of characters.

So, it kind of started off with this allure of travel and then it’s grown into this love of the game and love of the people. I love the fact that people are just doing what they want to do. I love poker players because they’re mavericks, and I love mavericks because they just don’t do what the cliché is or the status quo. They’ve chosen this kind of rogue lifestyle and they do everything on their own time which I really admire.

You said you didn’t know anything about poker, so that was obviously something important to learn about. How did you go about it?

I mostly learned about it really during COVID, was when I started playing online. And I kind of studied a bit of GTO. If I was going to do it, I was going to do it properly. So I was studying charts and watching videos online.

I actually started playing more on ClubWPT. That was the safe space for me to learn. Because it wasn’t real money. So that was the safe space for me to learn and to put all those things I had been studying into practice. And then it kind of went up and I did partypoker, playing quite low stakes. And then COVID ended and I could play live properly. I could play live before, but I didn’t really know what I was doing. And I actually think I played better before when I didn’t know what I was doing.

Genuinely! Cause I was just like “heck. I’m all in.” And people would go “Whaa??” and fold. Whereas now I’m thinking in my head little probabilities, like “well if they have that and I have this….” You know? I overthink it now. Yeah, I have a long way to go in my poker skills.

Cash games? Tournaments?

I prefer tournaments. Cash games stress me out. There’s always so many rogue players in cash games that do the craziest things. I’m not confident enough yet to beat them. I think that’s the problem. I think online I play better. Online I feel safer.

Can you explain that?

When I’m at a table, I feel the pressure more in real life. When I’m in my own home I feel way more confident placing higher bets, or going all in, or calling when my hand is not the strongest. I think being a girl, a young girl, men will always try and bluff me a lot at a live table. And that’s annoying. I’m still learning to call their bluff.

If you know that that’s going to happen, then you know exactly what the counterattack should be.

Yeah, but I still haven’t got the experience to know when someone’s bluffing and when someone’s got a really strong hand.

So what are your near- and longer-term poker goals?

I’d really like to get in a low-stakes tournament. That would be an achievable goal for me. But it’s finding the time to practice and do it. I just don’t really have the time. I kind of like just playing for fun. Getting more confident would be my short-term goal and then my long-term goal would be getting placed in a low-stakes tournament.

So not necessarily your name on the Mike Sexton Cup or anything?

I’m going to be really honest and say I don’t think that’s an achievable goal. There are a lot more people that are a lot more qualified for that than me.

Got it. So obviously being on video and presenting and having to learn about poker and know the product that you’re presenting about. Those two things go hand in hand. But clearly you must find some sort of joy in playing.

Yeah.

Can you describe that?

The joy in playing? I guess it’s like. I don’t know, there’s something that online games miss. Table camaraderie that you can have with people. The banter and the chat and I really enjoy that. And sometimes if I bust I’m more sad about missing out on the table fun, rather than the money. It’s also kind of the thrill. It’s why everyone loves playing these kind of games. It’s the thrill and the risk. High risk, high reward. But it could go wrong. But when you get it and you win, it feels amazing.

And also I think that every time you play, you get better. Like with anything you do. Practice. And seeing your improvement is quite satisfying.

That dovetails very nicely into my next question. When you first started in your position, were you trained at all? Or was it completely learning the skills and what to do in your role completely on your own? And obviously over the years you’ve gotten better, to where you are now. But how did it all begin when you started with the company?

Oh. Fake it ‘til you make it.

Really! Ok; go on…

No, I had Hermance Blum as my direct manager. And she was amazing. She definitely helped me a lot. The great thing about Hermance is she’s very to the point. She’s very honest. There’s no beating about the bush. If she doesn’t like it, she’ll tell you. I love that because how am I’m going to know I’m doing something wrong if no one tells me? So she’ll give me direct feedback like “you’re doing amazing” or “you’re holding the microphone in the wrong hand. Hold it in this hand.”

Yeah. She really helped me a lot.  I have to place a lot of my beginnings to her. Because without Hermance, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I have a lot of love for Hermance. I think she’s amazing.

That’s great!

After trying her luck in Paris, @alexogray shot over to @cardcasino_svk in Slovakia to earn her passport to the #WPTWorldChampionship @WynnPoker!

There are countless ways to qualify for the #WPTWorldChampionship all over the world!

Schedule: https://t.co/IHkE9eNIXn pic.twitter.com/fnS04nyCaW

— World Poker Tour (@WPT) November 8, 2022

But definitely, at the very very start – Fake it ‘til you make it. I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew I loved doing it. And I just kind of made it up as I went along.

If you look back at those videos is it really…

I cringe. I cringe. It’s so cringy.

Well now you’re obviously a veteran. You’ve been doing it for four years, you know what you’re doing. What sort of preparation, now that you know what you’re doing, goes into making those videos. Like during the pandemic, you recorded a lot of them at home on a green screen. Obviously sometimes you’re on site, so tell us about that process from inception or idea until we see the final product.

A lot of it just comes to me. I mean, I like working under pressure, so I like leaving things to the last minute.

Ok, that works for some people.

That always sparks a really great idea. A lot of the stuff that we do, like when we were doing Europe a lot, I would work really closely with my videographer Alessio and we would bounce ideas off each other. He’s amazing. His brain just functions differently, but in the most beautiful way.

But to be fair to me, it wasn’t always last minute. I would research where we were going. Like, when we went to Brussels. There’s more to Belgium than just Brussels. Bruges is only an hour train journey away. There’s the film In Bruges. Let’s do something there. That’s kind of fun. Like if a player busts, like Brussels can be quite miserable in the cold. Like why don’t they take a train journey to Bruges?

Alex Gray Presents Poker ASMR at WPTDeepStacks Brussels https://t.co/B1m7DDm2oz pic.twitter.com/sf7UROJBPu

— Formule Poker (@FormulePoker) March 29, 2020

Interesting. You often have a free hand to decide what you want to do?

Yeah. It would have to be approved obviously, but I filmed the crazy Halloween music video when I was Montreal. I don’t know what we were thinking. We filmed it in about two days. I came up with this strange Halloween rap myself. In about half an hour. It’s the bad beat story. And we just filmed this music video in the streets. In like some back alley in Montreal. It’s just so random. It was a very spontaneous video. It is one of my all-time favorites.

That is actually my next question. I remember you had a lot of cool videos with Adam in Sochi. Like that ice plunge in the hot water and the Halloween video. Are those your favorite ones? And what makes them your favorites?

Because they’re different. And they’re so strange that it gets people wanting to watch it because it’s not just another “boring” poker room video where you’re in the room giving an update or interviewing a player that just wants to go to sleep or doesn’t care about talking to you.

It’s getting attention on poker and making it fun and attracting a new audience who didn’t really know about poker. It’s a soft medium for people to enter in. And I don’t really think there was anything like that in the poker world before. And that’s why I think that coming from a non-poker background was good, because I could bring in this very non-poker style.

How deeply are you involved in the editing and the post-production until we see that final video?

We’ll have a vision of what the video will be like, but I always leave that to the videographer. The videographer will more often than not will also edit it. I really leave all of that to them. Because that’s their remit. That’s their skillset and talent and what they’re good at. I’m good at coming up with ideas and doing the visuals and making whatever’s on camera look good, and like the scripts. I mean I’ll be like “mmm, maybe not that bit.” I mean I’ll have a little creative suggestion, but more often than not I don’t have much to say about it.

I always ask this about players because it’s a relatively unconventional line of work to get into, but everything in this industry is a little unconventional – what does your family think of your work?

You know what? I think they were disappointed in me when I had an office job. Because no one in my family has a normal job. So my dad grew up selling records and then had his own music business.

My mom used to work in the music industry as well. And then she gave up her career to look after us – her kids. My sister is a dancer and owns a dance talent agency. My brother was a musician and now does day trading. My half brother is a really famous photographer. So no one in my family really did normal things. So when I went into this really boring job, everyone was like “We’re proud of you! Are you sure you want to be doing that?!” You know?

So they’re happy as long as I’m happy. Very lucky to have a supportive family.

Cool! Okay, so you arrived here yesterday to the Wynn Las Vegas. I believe this is your first trip here in the wintertime. Tell us about your first impressions of Las Vegas in the winter. And you’ve been here like 24 hours, maybe less. Tell us what you think about the WPT has put on here at the Wynn.

Oh it’s jaw-dropping.

Day before yesterday I arrived and slept three or four hours. Normally I’d be a zombie. But I was like on fairy dust. There’s just so excitement and magic here. I don’t know if that’s just Vegas in general. But I’ve never felt it before. I think it’s like –  Wow! This is incredible. I’m a part of this. How, pardon my French, how ****ing incredible. This is the most astonishing poker event I’ve ever seen. One of the most astonishing events I’ve ever seen full stop. And to have it hosted in a place like the Wynn. It’s beautiful everywhere you look. It’s just a classy place. There are no words to describe how awesome it is. It’s just epic.

I didn’t plan on this question, but you literally just said said “Pardon my French” and that reminded me, you speak French.

Oui, je parle un petit peu de Fraincais.

How did you end up speaking French and so fluently and unaccented?

Well, I’m not so fluent now because I haven’t been practicing that much and it’s really bad. But I studied it at school and I had the most incredible French teachers at school; they were just so passionate about French. It was their love. They just loved France and loved the language that it kind of inspired me to want to love it as well.

I had a lot of friends that were French. I used to work in the nightlife industry and everyone there was French. So I ended up just speaking it loads. And ended up getting an A-star at A level French so.

Nice! Tres bon!

And ended up studying French at University in one of my modules as well.

Good stuff. So, a lot of folks only speak that one language, and you have the benefit of speaking two. In what ways have you found that to be advantageous? Both professionally and personally.

Professionally definitely, it’s helped. Like in Europe in a lot of the countries we would visit for the World Poker Tour they all speak French. So, we would go to Brussels, they speak French. We have an event in Deauville, they speak French. We go to Paris, obviously, they speak French. Morocco, Marrakech, they speak French.

With Hermance do you speak French?

With Hermance and Maxime Rouison. They speak French as well. And I’d interview a lot of the French players in French. So, it is really handy. And just on a personal level, it’s really cool. It unlocks another world. You can go to France and get around. And you don’t feel isolated.

Nice. Well, I’m not a 100% sure there’s a cause and effect here, but I think one of the reasons you arrived here later than the rest of the crew is that you were competing on this reality show in the UK. You had to promote it to be there. Tell us about this show, what is it called? What were you doing? And what’s all that stuff about?

Well, I always said I would never do reality TV, but here I am. It was called The Traitors, and it’s essentially a murder mystery. And a really messed up one. There are no clues! You’re locked up in this castle for three weeks.

With how many people?

It starts with 22, but it gets whittled down.

Right.

And there are two ways you can get eliminated. Either you get murdered by the Traitors at night while you sleep. Or you get banished at the round table by everyone who are trying to figure out who the murderers are.

So like votes, sort of?

Yeah, it’s like group voting. And you’re placed into this group state of paranoia and anxiety. And you can’t sleep because you’re so anxious and paranoid. It was just mental. It’s a lot of strategy. And it was fun. Until it wasn’t. I got too emotionally invested in it and I was like “ok I need to protect my well-being.”

Ok. Is it a winner take all kind of thing?

If you’re a traitor, yeah. If you’re one of the three traitors out of the 22 people who make it to the end, then you take all the money. If you’re one of the others and there are no traitors left because you managed to banish them, you managed to vote them out because you sussed out who they are, then you share the rest with the faithfuls who are left over.

And the show’s over, so you were which one?  

I was a faithful. I then got recruited to become a traitor over halfway through, but I turned it down. Because I didn’t have it in me to lie and deceive and throw people under the bus.

Ok.

I mean I know it’s just a game, but when you’ve been living it – I mean it’s your life for three weeks. It doesn’t feel like a game anymore. It’s real people, real emotion, real feelings.

Did a lil inside scoop with @CosmopolitanUK which you can read here! #TheTraitors https://t.co/2e5NvcTQTE pic.twitter.com/epzSnHDhHL

— Alex Gray The Traitors (@alexogray) December 20, 2022

And before we recorded this you said that you filmed this in May and we’re now in December. How difficult is it to sit on this for so many months?

It’s so difficult. Because they didn’t tell us when it was going to be out. We only found out about 10 days before the transmission date when it was going to be. So it was really hard. We’ve just filmed this massive thing with the biggest channel in England. So you’re waiting for this to come out. You’re trying to get on with your life, but at the same time you’ve got this going on in the back of your mind. Is it going to flop? Is it going to be a success? Is this going to change my life? Am I going to still live the same life? You don’t know.

It’s kind of tough watching it back, to be honest. It brings back all these old emotions from when we were filming it.

How do you do that and fit that sort of thing into the middle of a busy WPT schedule?

Well I had to sacrifice WPT Hanoi.

Oh, shame.

Yeah. So I missed going to Vietnam for it. And even when I turned down Vietnam, I wasn’t sure if I was on the show or not. They were like, “we can’t confirm that you’re on the show now, but maybe you shouldn’t agree to the WPT event because there’s a good chance you will be on it. But we can’t confirm it.” So, brilliant! Like I have to put my whole life on hold for May just in case I might be on it.

Just a few more questions until we wrap it up. You’re 27 years old; I’m pretty sure that you’re one of, if not THE youngest member of the WPT family. What does being part of the WPT family mean to you?

It’s a privilege. It’s great. I get looked after so well. It’s like a family. I get along with everyone I work with. It’s great. The events are really fun. I get to travel the world and talk to a camera for a living. I feel so lucky that they took a chance on me all those years ago. Like I said, I was just faking it until I was making it. I didn’t know what I was doing.

It’s just a privilege. Being invited to be here and stay at the Wynn and being taken care of so well. It’s great.

Well they definitely take care of everybody. They take care of media, they take care of players, they take care of champions. That’s incredible hosting by WPT. I’m glad to hear that’s true of in-house as well. That’s great.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

Seeing the results, I guess. I love producing videos. I can’t explain why I love talking to a camera and being on video. A lot of people hate that. They cringe at the idea of being on video. But there’s something really fun about interviewing people and making fun content.

I just love the world of production, I think it’s really fascinating. You never see all the hard work that goes into a video. I can watch a video now and appreciate everything someone’s put into that video. You’ve really gone in on your scriptwriting there, or look at those transitions, or look at the background. Or, wow, it must have been really cold to film, but you’re making it look fun.

There’s so much just to make one little 30 second clip. And I think it’s beautiful, the magic of that.

What do you find most challenging about your work?

Sometimes the long hours. And “always being happy.” If you’re at an event for two weeks. Barcelona, say, was a two-week event. And I’m socializing every day, you’re on camera every day. And over two weeks, you’re not going to feel great every single hour of the day. You’re going to have moments where you’ve had bad news, or you’re not feeling well that day, or you’re just tired and groggy. You can’t express how you feel. You have to put on a face. But that’s not all the time. That’s just the rare occasion, that might be the case. On those days, I find it tough. Because I like to stay true to myself at all times. But in those moments you have to realize that you can’t express something that’s bothering you or bringing you down. For the sake of the job, you have to put a face on and crack on.

5am & I’m lying in bed with a hot flannel over my face in a desperate attempt for humidity to soothe my throat n nose that have dried up like that one lil helpless forgotten potato that fell off the tray in the oven. The air is so dry my noise bled. TWICE. #VivaLasVegas pic.twitter.com/3aG2eg6jnn

— Alex Gray The Traitors (@alexogray) December 20, 2022

There was a long time before COVID hit that I was struggling with my health. And I put a brave face on every single day, but inside I felt awful. Now I feel good. I’m on top of it. I know what’s going on. But that was really hard for me. So when COVID came, I thought “Ahhhh, now I can breathe. Now I can relax. Now I can fix what’s going on in my body, because I know there’s something wrong.” It turns out that I had an autoimmune problem, but at the time I didn’t know. And I had all these allergies that I didn’t know about. That was really tough.

To follow up on that, after every intense period of work, like now, obviously the holiday season is coming up and there’s going to be a little bit of a break. When you do find that time for yourself, how do you decompress, get that out of your system, relax and recharge to become that A-plus person again.

Don’t talk to anyone. Don’t wear makeup. Go to the gym. Don’t talk to anyone. Sleep. Do yoga. I actually like to do administrative work.

Who on Earth likes to do administrative work?!

Yeah. I know. It’s weird. I know But I have quite an autistic side of my brain. I become obsessive about things and I can completely tune in. That’s how I managed to get through University. Full-blown autistic brain. I just go.

I switch from extrovert brain and my introverted side becomes who I am. You know when you have a battery pack on your phone. And you put that battery pack on charge. It’s like that. I put the extroverted battery pack on charge. I just don’t do anything extroverted while it’s charging.

Last question. Looking to the future. Many of us have been playing poker for a number of years. So lots of us have been into the game for a while. We got into it 20 years ago, when the WPT began, or when Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP Main Event in 2003. And a lot of us, my media colleagues and I have been wondering: how do we bring the next generation of players to the game? And even just fans to become interested? So you’re in your 20s, Alex. What do you think about poker appeals most to your generation that you’d like to see more of, both from the WPT as well as from the wider poker industry?

I think detaching it from the world of casinos and gambling. There’s a lot of controversy because of that. People my age, when they think of poker, they think of slot machines and roulette. They don’t realize that it’s a skill-based game. A lot of games in the casino, there’s no skill involved. You know, you just put $100 on red and hope that you’ve got it.

I think making it clear that there’s a lot of work these poker players put into the game. This isn’t just, “I’m sitting down and hoping for the best by going all in with 2-3 offsuit.” It’s studying from some of the best poker training sites, it’s reading charts, it’s playing. Then it’s studying your play. And by watching other people play and learning from them. And I think that if you’re not in the poker world, you don’t get it. I think that poker players deserve a lot more respect, and it just saddens me that it’s washed with “oh that’s just a game of luck.” Obviously, there is luck involved. It’s poker. But it’s mitigated luck. You are in control of the cards to a certain degree.

I think that. And I think making it more consumable via platforms that younger people use now, like TikTok. I’m not big on TikTok, but a lot of the agents now are like: “How many followers do you have on TikTok?”. That’s the platform that everyone is on. So making consumable content on TikTok for that younger generation to consume. But also understand that this is a game that you need to treat with respect. And it’s a game you need to study. It’s a game of skill.

That’s an awesome answer. And this has been a really awesome conversation. I’ve been a fan of your work for four years now, and it’s good to get to know the Alex behind the camera. So thanks for talking to Cardplayer Lifestyle today.

Thanks for wanting to talk to me!

Absolutely.

In this article, we’ll look at who has signed with Team WPT this year and who currently rules the roost on the World Poker Tour. We’ll also speculate as to which players might be the next addition to a roster that boasts more strength and depth than a long pass from Tom Brady at his peak.

A Party of Five

The current World Poker Tour roster is the envy of other poker brands, with a great mix of trending players, fresh faces, and Poker Hall of Famers. When the WPT named Steve Aoki as their Brand Ambassador early in 2022, it sent shockwaves through the industry. Aoki was an award-winning DJ, used to winning a Grammy or two, but what would he bring to the party? It turned out… the party itself! Aoki has been a great name to be linked with the WPT and has spent a fair amount of time at the tables, too, meeting hundreds of players of all levels at multiple WPT stops in 2022.

“The passion and energy in which Steve Aoki approaches every aspect of his life is both inspiring and very much in line with the new vision of the WPT,” Adam Pliska, the World Poker Tour CEO, said at the time of Aoki joining the brand.

When the WPT announced their next acquisitions, no-one was surprised when Brad Owen and Andrew Neeme were unveiled as new ambassadors. The pair of YouTube vloggers and MUG hosts have helped revolutionize the way we watch poker, and the World Poker Tour is embracing new technology and innovations like never before. Owen and Neeme’s exclusive NFT series and the growth of their online WPT Global brand are indicative of this, and having Neeme and Owen at the forefront of new WPT developments can only strengthen their global brand.

Owen and Neeme are guaranteed to bring in a new wave of poker players, but what about the old guard? The WPT would never abandon those who have been with them since the first card came off the – literal – deck back when the WPT cruise set sail.

The WPT introduced Doyle Brunson as a new ambassador by featuring the 10-time WSOP bracelet winner and back-to-back WSOP Main Event champion (in 1976 & 1977) in a highly amusing advert for the WPT World Championship. Texas Dolly arrived a month early for the celebrations in the video as he rolled towards Vegas ahead of time in the hilarious take on early registration. Pliska commented about the poker legend: “Doyle has been a part of the World Poker Tour from the very beginning.”

Another WPT jewel pic.twitter.com/xPETljk3oh

— Doyle Brunson (@TexDolly) November 1, 2022

This advert was one of many towards the latter end of the year that have demonstrated just how on trend the WPT are. Hiring Phil Ivey to be their fifth new brand ambassador in 2022 was a masterstroke. Not only was Phil also a 10-time WSOP bracelet winner, but Ivey’s mystique is legendary. He promptly appeared in a self-deprecating video where he and Tony Dunst were answering calls in the WPT office. To bring Phil Ivey back in a big way on the tournament circuit is to WPT’s credit.

WPT Summer Festival now at @wpt_global including the $1 buy-in $1 million guaranteed event. See you there pic.twitter.com/OrL3cXOOJE

— Phil Ivey (@philivey) July 23, 2022

The Legends Behind the Mic

It’s not only the mix of Ivey and Dunst that reminds us just what a strong team all those new ambassadors are joining. Vince Van Patten and Tony Dunst have been the WPT’s co-anchors since the late, great Mike Sexton left us. Sexton’s many friends still miss his effortless grace and humor. Van Patten and Dunst deserve huge credit for filling the enormous loss of Mike, producing content that retains Sexton’s wit and wisdom.

Image Credit: WPT

Presenting coverage of all the big events where players have the chance of getting their name carved into the WPT Mike Sexton Champions Cup is the Australian broadcasting hero Lynn Gilmartin. A mainstay of the WPT for many years, Gilmartin’s easy charm and whip-smart personality make her someone WPT relies on. Fans love seeing her on the screen wherever she goes.

Tournament Director Matt Savage is another powerhouse personality in his own right, having won the Global Poker Award for Poker Industry Person of the Year this year. His relationship with players and fans is second to none. It’s impossible to think of someone in poker who has welcomed so many people to the game. It’s continued growth is in no small part a direct result of Savage’s skill and presence.

Who Could Be the Next WPT Ambassador?

There are so many players in poker who offer so much in terms of success, brand growth and an online presence. To pick only a handful inevitably misses hundreds of perfectly suitable candidates. That said, this is exactly what we’re going to do. So let’s start with tour favourite Dan Smith.

Image courtesy: PokerGO, HendonMob

Known as ‘The Cowboy’, Smith might be used to playing high roller events, but he’s happy to mix it up in $10,000 MTT fields too. Dan won his first WSOP bracelet in the summer of 2022, rubber stamping what everyone in the game knows; Smith is a winner both on and off the felt.  His Double Up Drive has raised millions for charity, too, and the World Poker Tour’s own efforts in this area would complement Smith’s charitable ethic.

Darren Elias is already a bona fide World Poker Tour legend, having won more Main Event titles on the WPT Tour (four) than any other player in history. What better way to promote the brand than by making the most successful player ever to sit at the WPT felt a top ambassador? Elias isn’t just a great poker player, he’s also a wholesome family man who has proven that you can become a ruthless winner while being a nice person.

With poker props running in the family, one player who we think would add huge value to the WPT is Natasha Mercier. With husband Jason taking more of a back seat in recent years, Natasha’s propensity for making it through tough fields and juggling motherhood alongside her poker success is inspiring. With the poker industry always looking for ways of bringing more women into a game still dominated by men, what better person to inspire others to take up the game than Natasha?

Image credit PokerNews, Drew Amato

Finally, with two friends for the price of one, we think that genius minds Erik Seidel and Maria Konnikova would be a great fit for the World Poker Tour. Both are hugely consistent players, and with the backgammon and chess respective passions of the pair, the duo could bring other mind sport players to poker. Seidel’s background in stocks and accounting, coupled with Konnikova’s literary and psychological background offers a true meeting of intelligence that could only benefit the changes any poker brand will go through.

The World Poker Tour has made giant leaps in 2022 – who knows what 2023 will bring for the biggest poker tour in the world?!

The release comes on the heels of the company’s historic World Championship Main event at the Wynn Las Vegas. The $10,400 buy-in Main Event nearly doubled its original guarantee of $15 million, and is set to award over $1 million to each of the top six finishers, with the winner receiving a whopping $4.136 million.

The first half of Season XXI will span the globe – from California to Cambodia, and from France to Florida and beyond.

Image Credit: World Poker Tour

“Coming off an incredible 20th-anniversary season for WPT, we are looking forward to its progression into 2023,” said WPT CEO Adam Pliska. “Players have much to anticipate during Season XXI, as we have established some new partnerships and continued our relationships with longstanding staples of the Tour.”

January 22nd – February 5th: WPT Prime France

Season XXI (2023) of the World Poker Tour will begin in Paris, France, at the Club Circus Casino on Sunday, January 22nd. The venue will host daily poker tournaments leading up to the €1,100 buy-in Main Event on January 31st.

Image Credit: Sortir a Paris

The WPT Prime Paris Main Event will feature five starting flights (spread out over four days) in a multiple re-entry format with late registration ending in the early morning hours of February 4th.

This will be the first time in almost a decade that the WPT has hosted a Main Tour stop in France. In October 2013, Moshin Charania took home a first place prize of €340,000 upon outlasting a field of 186 competing entrants at the Grand Prix de Paris.

March 2nd – March 6th: WPT Prime Gold Coast

The WPT will return to Queensland, Australia this coming March for a Main Event (buy-in AU$1,500) held at the Star Gold Coast Casino. There will be plenty of preliminary poker tournaments along with cash game action in the days before the Main Event.

Last year, Aussie native Yang Lei captured a victory in the WPT Prime Gold Coast Championship for a cash prize that exceeded AU$200,000.

March 16th – March 20th: WPT Prime Cambodia

In August 2022 the World Poker Tour set an all-time attendance record for its “Prime” branded events during its tour stop in Cambodia.

David Erquiaga of the Philippines walked away with just over $137,000 in the Season XX Prime Cambodia Main Event, which attracted a record 1,050 participants.

March 29th – April 1st: WPT Prime Amsterdam

The Holland Casino in the Netherlands’ largest city will once again be the site in March 2023 for the World Poker Tour Prime Amsterdam Championship.

Image Credit: SoMuchPoker. com

Santo Bakker of the Netherlands was victorious in the Season XX WPT Deepstacks Amsterdam, and claimed a cash prize of $130,690 according to the official WPT webpage.

Going into Season XXI, Bakker is ranked among the Top 100 all-time Dutch live poker tournament cash prize winners, according to The Hendon Mob.

April 1st – April 4th: WPT Rolling Thunder (Season XXI Main Tour Kicks Off)

The Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California, will kick off the WPT Season XXI Main Tour, as Vietnam native Tony Tran will attempt to defend his 2020 title and spot within the WPT Champions Club.

As with all of the Season XXI Main Tour stops, Thunder Valley will offer a number of preliminary tournaments as well as cash games throughout the festival, which will begin in late March 2023.

April 13 – April 17th: WPT Prime India

For the first time in three years, the WPT will return to India in April 2023 – with poker events held aboard the Deltin Royale ship, anchored off the picturesque coast of Panaji.

Season XXI will see the World Poker Tour will add another poker player to its growing list of Champions Club members at the conclusion of the WPT Prime India Main Event.

April 28th – May 2nd: WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown

Alabama poker player Mark Davis took home just over $1 million in earlier this year in April upon winning the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown title in Hollywood, Florida.

This year’s Seminole Hard Rock Showdown Main Event will have a televised final table, and could once again witness a seven-figure payday awarded to the eventual winner.

May 5th – May 8th: WPT Choctaw

Speaking of televised WPT final tables, the WPT Choctaw Main Tour stop at the Choctaw Casino & Resort in Durant, Oklahoma, will likewise be broadcast to poker fans around the globe once the competition has ended.

Chip Leader Coaching instructor and poker veteran Chance Kornuth received $486,600 for his winning efforts in last year’s Main Event in Oklahoma.

May 11th – May 15th: WPT Prime Slovakia

The World Poker Tour will host a tournament series in the European country of Slovakia for the first time ever in May 2023 when it showcases poker action at the Card Casino in Bratislava.

Image Credit: Card Casino Bratislava

The venue provides 24-hour casino action and has a dedicated poker room that will offer additional poker tournaments – namely the “Royal” and “ITALIAplay” events – with guaranteed prize pools ranging into the hundreds of thousands of euros.

May 21st – May 25th: WPT Gardens Poker Championship

With a $5,250 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Main Event, the 2023 (Season XXI) WPT Gardens Poker Championship is sure to attract the best talent not only locally from California, but across the United States and beyond.

San Diego poker player Markus Gonsalves earned his entry into the WPT Champions Club in January 2020 when he took down the marquee annual tournament at Gardens Casino for a cash prize haul of $554,495.

May 25th – May 29th: WPT Prime Vietnam

The Crown Poker Club in Hanoi will be the return destination for WPT Prime Vietnam in 2023.

Zarvan Tumboli from Mumbai catapulted himself close to the Top 20 of India’s all-time live poker tournament money list in May 2022 when he won $131,394 in the Season XX WPT Prime Vietnam Main Event.

June 7th – 11th: WPT Prime Sanremo

The first half of the WPT Season XXI schedule will conclude in early June 2023 at the all-new Sanremo stop: Casinò di Sanremo in Italy.

Image Credit: Club Poker

World Poker Tour VP of Global Tour Management and 2022 Women in Poker Hall of Fame inductee Angelica Hael expressed her excitement about Season XXI, stating that “it is the pride of WPT to offer such a wide range of tournament festivals when it comes to buy-in and location. We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to all of our live partners worldwide and our appreciation for the players for their continued support.”

The first half of WPT Season XXI will likely bring a lot of encouraging news to live poker tournament players around the world in the form of attendance numbers.

Cardplayer Lifestyle will be covering many of these events during WPT Season XXI, so keep it right here to follow the action and learn about poker biggest winners in 2023.

“It is my privilege to share that this year’s WPT Honors Awards recipients will be Vince Van Patten and Isai Scheinberg,” said World Poker Tour CEO Adam Pliska to a captive full Encore Ballroom as Day 1A of the WPT World Championship Main Event was briefly paused for the announcement.

“These two men have both made transformational contributions to the poker community. Isai as a pioneer with his incredible ingenuity and boldness, and Vince with his love and dedication to expanding the game of poker. Both honorees are truly deserving of the award.”

Vince Van Patten: 20 Years Of Poker Broadcast Excellence

Native New Yorker Vince Van Patten teamed up with the World Poker Tour in 2003, and has represented the brand ever since through his unique presentation of poker content and high profile tournaments in the broadcast booth.

Originally introduced to the game of poker by his father, Dick Van Patten, Vince has been around the game since he was a teenager – even managing a Hollywood home game in the 1990s.

Van Patten expressed gratitude towards the WPT family and executive team upon receiving the WPT Honors nod saying “I am so fortunate to have been a part of this amazing company for 20 years and I have never been more proud of what the WPT has become, than here at the first-ever WPT World Championship at the Wynn. It is an incredible site.”

Isai Scheinberg Receives Long Overdue Poker Industry Recognition

Poker player, fan, and former online industry executive Isai Scheinberg began heading PokerStars operations in Q3-2001, and quickly elevated the company to a brand name that would become synonymous with “poker greatness.”

Through his leadership, aptitude, and love for the game, Scheinberg would go on to vault the online poker business into a worldwide phenomenon during the early to mid-2000s.

The PokerStars online poker business, and subsequently their live events series, became a logical next step for both casual and serious card playing fans around the world who had – up until the early 2000s – dreamed of the online, real money potential of card games after cutting their teeth on the popular offline, click-and-drag Microsoft Solitaire game over the prior decade.

By the time Scheinberg sold the company in 2014 for $4.9 billion, PokerStars had amassed a player base that exceeded 100 million individuals across the globe.

The PokerStars co-founder was on hand to receive the WPT Honors recognition and spoke to the assembled crowd of players and poker media outlets, most of whom had never seen his face or heard his distinct voice before. He fondly recalled that “the first TV advertising PokerStars did was on WPT programming on the Travel Channel. It had a major impact that led to millions of players joining us.”

READ ALSO: WPT World Championship Opens to Massive Turnout Numbers

Legacy WPT Honors Awards Recipients

This year marked the fourth time the World Poker Tour has recognized the ground-breaking achievements of poker players, personalities, and industry executives.

In 2017, Bruno Fitoussi, Linda Johnson, and Mike Sexton became the inaugural recipients of the WPT Honors. The following year, the WPT paid homage to its founders: Lyle Berman and Steve Lipscomb, while industry trailblazer Deb Giardina and tournament director Matt Savage were exalted in 2019 for their leadership in live, on-site poker operations.

WPT World Championship Main Event To Exceed $15 Million Guarantee?

According to WPT Executive Tour Director and 2019 WPT Honors Award recipient Matt Savage, the largest guaranteed live poker tournament prize pool in history could exceed its own lofty expectations.

VIDEO: World Poker Tour Executive Tour Director Matt Savage (@SavagePoker) thinks that the @WPT World Championship’s prize pool could surpass $20 million.

LINK – https://t.co/wyszIyKUus pic.twitter.com/d0HqFLWU8Y

— Card Player: The Poker Authority (@CardPlayerMedia) December 13, 2022

Savage hinted that the eventual WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas prize pool could turn out to be “over $20 million”, and based on the impressive Day 1A turnout of 615 players that milestone is well within reach.

Last Chance To Qualify For Historic WPT World Championship Main Event

Late registration for ‘Day 1C’ of the $10,400 buy-in WPT World Championship 2022 Main Event will be open up to the start of Level 7 on Wednesday, with a $1,100 Milestone Satellite qualifier available for players inside the Wynn Las Vegas Poker Room on December 14th, starting at 12:00 Noon local time.

The WPT World Championship Main Event – ‘Day 1B’ of which is today – is a “freezeout” poker tournament in which multiple re-entries (aside from a single entry per starting flight) are not allowed.

This means that once the late registration period ends for ‘Day 1C’ on Wednesday (following the completion of Level 6) all remaining participants will be locked in to their current chip counts for the remainder of the showcase event.

WPT CEO Adam Pliska anticipates that this will be the organization’s most spectacular cruise to date: “Virgin Voyages is the perfect partner for the return of the WPT Cruise. Their complete reimagining of the cruise experience is very much aligned with the new face of WPT and the celebratory atmosphere of our 20-year anniversary.”

Cruise Itinerary

The cruise will depart on Friday, November 11th from Miami, Florida. The first stop will be Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. There passengers will be able to visit both the beach and the city. The second stop will be in Bimini, Bahamas where cruisers can spend the day in an exclusive Beach Club with a DJ-led pool party.

The Full Schedule:

• Day 1: Miami › Departs 7:00 PM local time
• Day 2: Sailing
• Day 3: Puerto Plata › 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM local time
• Day 4: Sailing
• Day 5: Beach Club at Bimini › 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM local time
• Day 6: Miami › Arrives 6:30 AM local time

WPT Cruise Details

Prices for the cruise range from $2,070-$2,862 per cabin, assuming double occupancy. If you are interested in joining the WPT Cruise, we advise you to book as soon as possible, as cabins are selling out fast.

You can see the different accommodation options and make reservations on the WPT Cruise website. Note that in order to participate in the WPT poker events it is necessary to book through the WPT Cruise website.

Are you ready to set sails with @WPT and enjoy all the best that the Caribbean has to offer?
TODAY on @ClubWPT @ 4:00 PM ET you can play for a chance to win a $4,500 WPT Cruise Dominican Daze VIP package sailing the Caribbean.*
https://t.co/tQyMukyFPp
*No purchase necessary. pic.twitter.com/VvngueNlCb

— ClubWPT (@ClubWPT) September 18, 2022

Poker Details

Cash Games, MUG and tournaments

Poker lovers will have a wide variety of events to choose from on the cruise, with tournament buy-ins starting at $120 and rising all the way up to $500 for the Main Event. Cash games will also be offered, and on the first day there will be a Meet-Up Game (MUG) with Brad Owen and Andrew Neeme.

Schedule of poker events:

• Day 1: MUG with Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen
• Day 2: $120 Daybreak No-Limit Hold’em 10:00 AM
• Day 4: $500 WPT Cruise Main Tournament 10:00 AM
• Day 4: $330 Mystery Bounty No-Limit Hold’em 7:00 PM
• Day 5: $120 Survivor Event 8:00 PM

Brad and Andrew shared their thoughts on the cruise:

Brad Owen: “I’m eagerly looking forward to my first WPT Cruise, taking on the Caribbean Sea. And what better to go with a relaxing vacation, than some poker competition? I plan on playing in a good mix of cash games, and will definitely fire the main event.”

Andrew Neeme: “Who is ready for a meet-up game on the open seas? I can’t wait for my first WPT Cruise experience, sailing to stunning Caribbean destinations while playing tournaments and mixing it up in some PLO cash games.”

The Scarlet Lady Cruise Ship

Virgin Voyages’ new luxury cruise ship is called “Scarlet Lady” and is 278 meters long and 38 meters wide. It was chosen as Cruise Critics’ “Best New Cruise Ship” in 2021. The ship combines premium elements from favorites on land with the freedom and simplicity of a life well lived on the open ocean.

The ships extensive services include restaurants, gyms, swimming pools, spas, nightclubs, private karaoke, gaming spaces and shows. Scarlet Lady is the pinnacle of luxury and entertainment for anyone seeking the ultimate cruise experience.

Colleen McDaniel (Cruise Critic Editor-in-Chief) states “In a field that was surprisingly crowded, with a number of great new ships debuting this year, Scarlet Lady stood out for bringing new concepts to sea designed to give guests witty and smart features and options. We loved Scarlet Lady’s design-forward take on bringing even more fun to cruising.”

If you want to see the inside of the cruise ship you can watch this video:

All aboard! The WPT Cruise is about to depart!

The World Poker Tour is in the midst of celebrating its 20th anniversary. From a new logo to new ambassadors to the same Grade A poker product we all know and love, the WPT is fully woven into the fabric of our industry as the premier name in internationally televised gaming and entertainment.

On this episode, we wanted to take the opportunity to dive deeper into the inner workings of the World Poker Tour, to examine what challenges it faces and its plans for overcoming them, and hear firsthand how it plans to be an even bigger part of our industry over the next 20 years.

To do that, we gathered together an All-Star panel of WPT talents.

PANELISTS

SEAT 1: ADAM PLISKA

Having started out with the WPT as the company’s Legal Counsel, Adam quickly rose within the ranks to become CEO, a title he’s held for over a decade and a half as the “head of the family”.

SEAT 2: VINCE VAN PATTEN

Vince has been a featured World Poker Tour co-commentator for 20 years, throughout the lifetime of the company. He’s also a former professional tennis player as well as a Hollywood actor with numerous film roles to his credit.

SEAT 3: TONY DUNST

First having joined the WPT as host of the Raw Deal segments, and later moving into the commentary booth upon the retirement of the late Mike Sexton, Tony’s been with the company for over 12 years. Away from the booth, as a player, he’s also won a WPT Main Event title along with 2 WSOP bracelets and close to $4 million in career live tournament earnings.

TOPICS

We start off the show by noting that the WPT is unique in our industry among the overwhelming majority of poker companies in the way it generates revenue; i.e., not from the players themselves. We ask the panelists to describe the way in which WPT makes its money and why that relatively unconventional route has always made the most sense over the course of the company’s 20-year-long history?

Turning to our second topic, we note that just like online poker needs liquidity to flourish, so too does the WPT need viewership growth to keep succeeding. We ask the panelists to describe what sort of challenges the World Poker Tour has faced in that regard over the last two decades — specifically as viewer attention is so much harder to capture in an increasingly divided media space – and how the WPT has overcome it?

In the second half of the show, after viewing a hand showcasing the impeccable WPT production quality, we transition to our third topic. During the pandemic, online poker experienced a bit of a resurgence, and with the pandemic subsiding, live poker seems to really be roaring back. Every poker tour is fighting hard for a big piece of the player pie. We ask the panelists how they see the World Poker Tour fitting into that picture in 2022 and attracting as many players as possible to the felt for its events.

Finally, we end off the show by noting that there have already been some big changes and announcements to mark the World Poker Tour’s 20-year anniversary. There’s a new logo, Steve Aoki has been brought on as an ambassador, there’s WPT Prime now (replacing WPTDeepstacks), and of course the new Player of the Festival award… We ask the panelists to share or tease something extra that viewers and players can look forward to as the WPT’s 20th anniversary year progresses.

Watch Episode #16 of The Orbit now on Twitch.tv/poker.

For its part, the World Poker Tour has just announced that it will be paying a visit to Australia for three different tournament series: two from the WPTDeepStacks tour as well as their inaugural Main Tour stop in the country.

Opening the action will be the WPTDeepStacks Sydney on it’s first visit to the beautiful city. “Poker players in Australia have always been passionate about the game and the partnership with The Star Entertainment Group allows us to expand our presence there” said WPT CEO Adam Pliska.

He added: “Hosting the first WPT event at The Star Sydney puts us front and center in the largest poker market in Australia, one of the most iconic cities of the world, adding another element to our 20th anniversary celebration”.

WPTDeepStacks Sydney

The tournament series will run from March 30 to April 11 and will feature 12 events across the 13-day period. The buy-ins start at just AUD $175, with the Main Event featuring a buy-in of  AUD $1,500 with three starting flight and unlimited re-entry.

Key events:

• Opening Event: AUD $750
• Main Event (April 7 – 11): AUD $1,500
• Two day event: AUD $2,000
• The 5K Challenge: AUD $5,000

The complete schedule will be released very soon.

Lynn Gilmartin predicts record event

Australian Poker Hall of Famer Lynn Gilmartin, the famous WPT anchor, will be present in Sydney for the tournament. She told us: “I expect to see every poker player in Australia at The Star Sydney during this festival and setting a new Asia Pacific record for the $1k-$1.5k buy-in range. We had a $1.5M prize pool on the Gold Coast, so this $1,500 buy-in WPTDeepStacks Sydney Main Event is set to be huge”.

She added: “Sydney is a fantastic city and Star Poker is a favourite for Aussie poker players. Our experience at The Star Gold Coast over the past few years has been outstanding, so I’m really excited to now expand the World Poker Tour to Australia’s grandest city”.

WPT anchor and Australian Poker Hall of Famer Lynn Gilmartin

A Stellar Poker Venue: The Star Sydney

The venue offers luxurious five-star accommodation, Sydney’s finest restaurants, a selection of high-end bars, a world-class spa, and unrivalled entertainment.

Chief Operating Officer Damian Quayle expressed his excitement: “The Star has hosted some of the biggest names in sport, music and entertainment, and we look forward to welcoming the world’s best poker players”.

He added: “The Star is the home of poker in Australia, and we are thrilled with our partnership with WPT to host this globally-recognised tournament for the first time ever in Sydney”.

“With the WPT celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2022, this event will be the first time that WPT sets a footprint in Sydney. This looks set to be the biggest ever staged in Asia Pacific and with the world’s best players here to compete, Sydney and The Star will be showcased as one of the best vacation playgrounds in the world” Damian commented.

Gary Benson is in!

When we reached out to another Australian Poker Hall of Famer, Gary Benson, for his thoughts on the auspicious occasion, he said “I’m expecting a professionally, well run tournament. Most Australians have been starved of good poker tournaments over the last two years so many people will be eager to play for that reason.”

“It’s just great to see such a prestigious tournament coming to Sydney and I would like to see it successful so that it remains as a permanent fixture”, Benson added.

Photo credit: Jayne Furman

In May 2021, WPTDeepStacks visited the Gold Coast in Australia and Gary finished 18th in the Main Event, which had 1,113 entries. Benson is optimistic that we can expect an even bigger turnout in this time around, saying “There are probably more regular players based in Sydney as opposed to the Gold Coast so for that reason I would expect a slight increase in the numbers, probably around 1,200-1,300”.

Beyond that, he continued to sing the city and venue’s praises: “Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities in the world with its amazing harbour, wonderful beaches, great shopping and sight seeing. The casino also offers luxurious accommodation and a great range of 5 Star restaurants to eat at”.

Next Australian stops

The next two Australian stops will be held at The Star Gold Coast, host of the aforementioned record-breaking WPTDeepStacks event in 2021. That tournament had a massive prize pool of AUD $1,502,550 ($1,163,595), with the eventual winner, William Davies, taking down a first prize of AUD $252,731 ($195,718).

“I could not be more excited to be bringing a Main Tour stop to my home country,” said Angelica Hael, WPT VP of Global Tour Management. “I look forward to greeting every single one of my fellow Aussies at the event and welcoming the world to an amazing host property, The Star”.

Full details on these events, which include one Main Tour stop, will be announced once regulatory approval has been received.  Each event will be livestreamed and broadcast globally on WPT.com and the WPT YouTube and Twitch channels.

WPTDeepStacks Schedule

Next stops:

So, if you’ve always wanted to take that trip Down Under, the WPTDeepStacks Sydney presents an awesome opportunity to combine poker and pleasure.