World Series of Poker Hosts First Annual New Jersey Mayor’s Poker Tournament
Honorable Winner Will Receive $10,000 Donation for Local Charity of Their Choice
Atlantic City, N.J. – The World Series of Poker (WSOP) announced today that its online gaming platform WSOP.com will be hosting its inaugural New Jersey Mayor’s Poker Tournament on May 22 as part of the World Series of Poker National Championship week-long festivities in the newly WSOP-branded Bally’s Poker Room in Atlantic City.
Mayors from notable towns across New Jersey will meet at the world famous Atlantic City Boardwalk to play in a winner-take-all, No Limit Hold’em challenge in which the victor will donate the $10,000 prize to a local charity of his or her choice. In addition, Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian will be on hand to support the event as well, as it is his town that has lured the WSOP National Championship to New Jersey after the state regulated online gaming in late 2013.
As a new era in New Jersey gaming has begun with the advent of online play, the Mayor’s game will be played on computers using the WSOP.com online gaming platform to showcase the next generation of gaming technology being utilized in the Garden State. The Mayor’s Poker Tournament will be played out in front of a live audience in the Bally’s Poker Room.
“This is going to be a very exciting weekend in Atlantic City as mayors throughout the Garden State will come together at the most famous boardwalk in the world for the chance to compete amongst their peers for the benefit of charity,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. “It’s an honor to have this amount of local support for our inaugural event; it’s going to be a great atmosphere and we look forward to seeing which mayor presents the best poker face and wins the grand prize.”
In order to prepare each distinguished participant for the competition, WSOP.com has offered each mayor an optional one-hour coaching session with a professional poker player leading up to the game. The event, to take place in Bally’s Atlantic City, will begin at 2:00 p.m. EDT and is open to viewing by the general public and press. Once a winning mayor is determined he or she will be available for comment. Following the event the public and press are encouraged to stay and follow the action at the WSOP National Championship.
The Mayor’s Challenge is one of four special events taking place in the Bally’s Atlantic City poker room. On Monday, May 19 at 6 pm, the Bally’s Poker Room hosts a freeroll tournament – a free entry tournament where the winner wins a seat into the WSOP National Championship. On Wednesday, May 21, an $1,100 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em poker tournament will take place in the room, with the winner not only getting a large portion of the prize pool, but also the last remaining qualifying seat into the highly anticipated and ESPN nationally televised WSOP National Championship. The WSOP National Championship pits the top qualifiers from around the globe who have competed in a series of up to 264 events that earned them the right to compete for the coveted WSOP gold bracelet and a prize pool in excess of $1 million in the three-day event May 22-24. For more information, please visithttp://www.wsop.com/.
BACKGROUND ON THE WSOP CIRCUIT & WSOP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Events are a series of poker tournaments hosted throughout the United States and Canada beginning in August each year, and culminating the following May with a $1,000,000 National Championship televised on ESPN where the victor earns a WSOP gold bracelet as well. WSOP Circuit Events are designed to give the recreational and amateur player an opportunity to participate in the WSOP experience at a more affordable price point and with less of a time commitment than the traditional WSOP in Las Vegas. Each stop features 12 official events in 12 days, including a $1675 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Main Event – the most expensive buy-in event on the 12-event schedule at each stop. Official WSOP Circuit events range in buy-in from $365-$1675 and award a prestigious WSOP gold ring to each victor. In 2013-14, the WSOP Circuit season consisted of 22 unique stops all tied together by a cumulative points system that awards points based on finish in individual events. A season-ending National Championship is held each May with the Top 100 qualifiers. The winner of each stop’s Main Event gained automatic entry into the season-ending WSOP National Championship, as does each stop’s Casino Champion – the person who accumulates the most points throughout the 12 official events at a stop. The remaining players are made up of at large qualifiers whom have accumulated the most points throughout the Circuit season. The WSOP Circuit Events are a regional offshoot of the longest-running, largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world, dating back 44 years to 1970 – the famous World Series of Poker. This marks the tenth year the WSOP Circuit Events have been held. In 2012, more than 80,000 entered WSOP Circuit events, with the Main Event winner at each stop averaging $197,535 in prize money. Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Inc., (CIE) owns the WSOP and the WSOP Circuit Events. For more information, visitwww.wsop.com/2013/Circuit/ orwww.blog.wsop.com or follow us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/wsop.
