The resurgence of COVID-19 has forced the World Poker Tour to postpone its poker tournament series at Maryland Live! Casino & Hotel.
Officials recently announced the postponement of the two-week poker series and WPT Season XIX tour stop.
Maryland Live!, which is located in Hanover, expected to host the series of poker tournaments from Sept. 15-28.
No makeup dates for WPT poker tournament series
As in many US states, Maryland has seen the coronavirus take root once more. Doctors blame the surge on “dangerous strains targeting the unvaccinated.”
Maryland hasn’t seen the influx that other locales have. However, any major poker tournament, especially those under the WPT brand, are likely to draw players from all over the region, which could further the spread of the virus.
With the situation so fluid, WPT officials haven’t determined a potential timeframe to reschedule the events. As the WPT and Maryland Live! announced:
“We regret to inform you that this year’s WPT tournament scheduled for September 15th-28th has been postponed. We hope this postponement puts us in the best position to safely host the WPT at some later date. Please check back at maryland.livecasinohotel.com for any future updates.”
The WPT also recently canceled an event series in Jacksonville due to the deteriorating COVID-19 situation in Florida.
WPT refunds for early qualifiers
According to a Maryland Live! poker room floor supervisor, players who won seats for events and satellites at WPT Hanover will receive refunds.
The main event was scheduled to take place Sept. 24-28 with a $3,500 buy-in. It offered a guaranteed prize pool of $1.5 million.
However, WPT Maryland was also slated to host a number of warm-up events, with much more affordable buy-in fees. Those tournaments featured everything from Texas hold’em to Omaha hi-lo with buy-ins from $150 to $1,600.
Maryland resident Nitis Udornpim, one of the region’s most accomplished poker players, is the reigning World Poker Tour Maryland champion. Udornpim bested 494 other competitors for a first-prize purse of $319,415 during the 2019 WPT main event.
Currently, the remaining 2021 World Poker Tournament stops and their main events include:
- Nov. 26-30: WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open in Hollywood, FL ($3,500 buy-in)
- Dec. 15-19: WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas, NV ($10,400 buy-in)
