While the World Series of Poker is still pretty quiet about the WSOP festival and possible cancellations/delays, World Poker Tour was quick to act. As soon as the news about the harmful effects of the coronavirus started spreading all over the US, WPT officials met and immediately decided to bring the entire experience on the web.
What they did is contact their partners at partypoker, who immediately welcomed with their arms open wide. The two sides agreed to a new format they named WPT Online Series. They did not take long to create it, meaning the online version of the World Poker Tour will soon be open for business.
Therefore, all WPT lovers will now be able to enjoy a two-week-long poker festival that will take part on the web. Moreover, the person who manages to win the Main Event will have an opportunity to have their name etched on the WPT Champion’s Cup, which is a huge accolade for any poker player.
Therefore, despite the obstacles caused by COVID-19, there will still be an opportunity for many poker players to showcase their skills. The only thing that will be different is that they’ll get to stay at home.
The Timing Was Just Perfect for Online WPT
The story of the superb efficiency of WPT organizers to bring the whole thing online seems like a fairytale. After all, there’s a lot of work to be done, and it would require superhuman abilities to achieve it all in such a short period.
That said, Adam Pliska, CEO of World Poker Tour, actually admitted that they had an ace up their sleeve that was waiting for its turn. It seems that Pliska and his colleagues played that ace in the critical time.
Pliska stated he wished that it had been true that they were quick and efficient. However, the truth is that they have been preparing an online WPT tournament for three years now.
In other words, they already planned to offer an online version of the WPT, and the coronavirus situation just made them offer the online poker series a bit earlier than planned. Moreover, the WPT officials also engaged in negotiations with several sites, but partypoker turned out to be their primary choice.
One of the reasons why partypoker was selected is that the two companies already have a history of successful collaboration on numerous live events. The two companies were very present in Canada and Europe, where WPT managed to further promote its brand, and one of its main partners was partypoker.
The two brands joined forces and used both “art and science” to come up with a schedule for the inaugural online WPT event. Pliska stated that they could have gone the easier way and just add the name WPT to one of the online products.
However, they chose to go down the more difficult road, making sure that the online variant of the WPT is really “respecting (our) product.”
The first WPT Online Series was originally planned to start in May this year, but then the coronavirus got in the way and practically shut down the entire poker industry. Pliska stated that it was the perfect time to adjust their offer and present the Online Series earlier than planned. The opportunity was perfect for that.
All is ready and steady, but WPT and partypoker now need to make sure that they run the event successfully, as there will be a lot of players who are quarantined and wanting to play some online poker that is part of a successful series. That’s why they need to pay special attention to the organization of the entire thing.