The WPT World Championship is Jersey Fresh
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For the first time ever, the World Poker Tour is set to kick off its season-concluding, World Championship event right here at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. Over the past 11 seasons this illustrious event has been held at Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada, but with the return of partypoker in the Garden State of New Jersey, the WPT team opted to move the event across the country to Atlantic City.
Also, for the first time ever, this event features a $15,000 buy-in rather than a $25,000 buy-in.
This event always attracts the biggest and brightest stars in the game of poker, and we've already spotted Phil Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen, Will Failla, Noah Schwartz, Ravi Raghavan, Keven Stammen, and Matt Giannetti floating around the property. We also expect to see 2013 WSOP Main Event champion Ryan Riess, 2012 champ Greg Merson, Season XI WPT Player of the Year leader Mukul Pahuja, and several if not all of the Season XII Champions Club members.
Since Season IV, this event has always been won by a professional player, and the final table has always been stacked. In Season XI, Chino Rheem defeated Erick Lindgren heads-up to earn $1,150,279 and the title. Here's a look at all of the players who have ever won this event:
WPT World Champions
| Season | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| I | Alan Goehring | $1,011,866 |
| II | Martin De Knijff | $2,728,356 |
| III | Tuan Le | $2,856,150 |
| IV | Joe Bartholdi | $3,760,165 |
| V | Carlos Mortensen | $3,970,415 |
| VI | David Chiu | $3,389,140 |
| VII | Yevgeniy Timoshenko | $2,149,960 |
| VIII | David Williams | $1,530,537 |
| IX | Scott Seiver | $1,618,344 |
| X | Marvin Rettenmaier | $1,196,858 |
| XI | Chino Rheem | $1,150,279 |
The cards will be in the air at 11 a.m. EST, and PokerNews will be bringing you live updates straight from the tournament floor. See you then as we kick off the flagship event of the WPT!