WPT is Determined to Host the Unfinished Final Tables in Las Vegas

In the face of the rapidly spreading novel COVID-19 pandemic, live poker has come to a halt worldwide. Multiple international stops either had to be canceled or postponed. Many brands have since moved the action online, the most prominent among them being the World Series of Poker (WSOP), alongside others like the Asian Poker Tour (APT), and even the World Poker Tour (WPT).

It looks like WPT is determined to host three of its pending final tables live in Las Vegas. The final tables in question are the $10,000 L.A. Poker Classic, the $3,500 Borgata Winter Poker Open, and the $10,000 Gardens Poker Championship. With hundreds of thousands of dollars up for grab on these final tables, these massive events are awaiting to crown champions!

The LA Poker Classic, which initially began at L.A.’s Commerce Casino on February 29, will pay its winner $1,015,000. Indian-origin Balakrishna Patur will have the chip lead whenever the final table play resumes.

Each player at the three final tables has already been paid the sixth-place money, which may be part of the reason they haven’t shown frustration over the lengthy wait.

Elaborating on the situation, WPT Executive Tour Director, Matt Savage, said, “Communication has been constant and the players realize that it is a situation out of our control, and the prevailing thought is that they look forward to settling the business at hand at a future date as soon as possible.”

Casinos have been gradually reopening in the U.S., with Las Vegas casinos opening their doors to the public on June 4. However, Nevada’s gaming board set stringent guidelines for poker rooms, including stipulations that card games can’t exceed four players per table. With the three unfinished final tables, all having six finalists each, this is a significant hurdle for the WPT to get done with events anytime soon.

Some poker fans on social media have suggested finishing up the tournaments online. In fact, after receiving feedback from players, India-facing PokerBaazi had also shifted online the final tables of its two marque PPL tourneys in March – just as the COVID-19 panic was entering India. The events in question were the Highroller 6-Max 50 Lakhs GTD and The MoneyMaker 1 Crore GTD and both of them were supposed to take place at the PokerBaazi LIVE poker room in Goa.

However, Savage believes that wouldn’t be fair to the players, considering online poker is only legal in four U.S. states.

Savage wants the final tables to remain in Vegas because doing so gives the players “the full experience that making a WPT televised final table deserves.”

All three final tables, before the lockdown, were to play out at the Luxor’s HyperX Esports Arena between March 31 to April 2.

While WPT seems hell-bent on hosting the final tables live, whether it will actually be possible will depend on when the Nevada Gaming Control Board relaxes its four-max poker table restrictions.