300,000 player poker tournament
Saturday October 8, 2011 : More details now available from ISPT
Earlier this week we directed readers to the website ISPT.com and an impressive vid advertising a massive live-electronic poker tournament scheduled initially for the iconic Wembley Stadium in London, carrying a $30 million dollar guaranteed prize pool.
This massive inaugural International Stadiums Poker Tournament project is interesting for several reasons; it’s sheer scale, the novelty of blending electronic play with live action, and the involvement of Groupe Bernard Tapie, which is currently negotiating the purchase of Full Tilt Poker.
Revisiting the website, we discovered that considerably more detail has now been uploaded, enabling InfoPowa to update its report.
To quote from the website directly:
"The first step of the Event consists in making all the players (ISPT expects their number to be comprised between 20,000 and 30,000) compete online, simultaneously, on dedicated software and using electronic pads which will be offered to them, at their seats in the stadium.
"During the second step, the 3,000 top-ranked players still in the running will be gathered around real tables set up on the floor of the stadium, to compete in real (live) mode.
"Each of these 3,000 players will earn a piece of the $30 million guaranteed prize pool.
"The last step is the Final Table, where the last 10 players will compete for the remaining $17.5 million prize, the winner earning $10 million."
The site is presently gathering email addresses of anyone interested in being kept up to speed on this unique event, which will take place around September next year.
The site is worth a second visit, because it now identifies the significant participation of major European companies like Wembley Stadium, telecoms giant Orange and broadcasting partner IMG Worldwide, an international sport, fashion and business media active in 30 countries.
Also of interest is a page carrying the remarkable bios of the founders of ISPT, Bernard and Laurent Tapie and television whiz kid Prosper Masquelier, who is apparently the Directeur Général d’ISPT.
This has all the hallmarks of a serious and well-funded venture that will make a major impact on the industry…and there are more tournaments planned once the initial run-out has been successfully carried out.
