The World Poker Tour (WPT) is a series of professional poker tournaments organized by the Professional Poker Players Association (PPPA). The WPT began in 1991. The first WPT event was the $10,000 no-limit hold’em event at Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas. The WPT offers a number of different buy-in levels and prize pools, with the most prestigious events awarding more than $5 million in total prize money.
As of 2016, the WPT had awarded more than $2.5 billion in total prize money.
The WPT is not a purely professional circuit; there are also regular events open to recreational players as well as those who are simply interested in taking part in some of the world’s best poker play. However, the majority of WPT events are open only to professional poker players who have registered with and received approval from the PPPA. In order to play in any WPT event, players must first register with the PPPA and pay an entry fee.
This fee varies from event to event, but is generally quite modest (typically around $50). Players also need to purchase a tournament ticket, which costs anywhere from $10 to $200 depending on the tournament format and buy-in level.
The largest WPT tournaments offer multiple buy-ins, allowing players of all levels of experience to take part. However, even the smallest WPT events feature prize pools that are sizable compared to other professional poker tournaments.
For example, the $10,000 no-limit hold’em event at Binion’s Horseshoe featured a $2 million prize pool back in 1991! In recent years, however, the biggest WPT tournaments have seen prize pools that approach or exceed five million dollars.
So how much does it cost to play in the World Poker Tour? It depends on which event you’re interested in and on your individual circumstances, but on average it will cost you around $1,000 to participate in a WPT tournament. That said, there are often significant discounts available for registrants who enter early or make large buy-ins; so if you’re seriously considering playing in one of these events, it’s worth doing your research to find out exactly what your costs will be.
