Records tumble at Emperors’ poker tournament

Fans flocked to Emperors Palace from September 30 to October 14 for a chance to take home a share of the pot and other exciting prizes in the World Poker Tour.

For the seventh consecutive year, the event smashed previous poker tournament records, with R21 million in tournament entries accumulated, exceeding 2017’s amount of R19 million.

“This year’s poker tournament featured a number of exciting firsts, not only for The Palace of Dreams but for South African and African poker in general,” says Bob Yearham, Peermont gaming and VIP operations executive.

“This year’s World Poker Tour event was the first series in Africa in which a car – a stunning, brand-new Mercedes-Benz – was the guaranteed first prize along with cash, and it was also the first to be live-streamed to online audiences around the world.”

Four players became millionaires overnight during the course of this series, and will join Emperors Palace’s hall of fame, which has seen more 25 poker players crowned millionaires in the history of the The World Poker Tour Emperors Palace Poker Classic.

In addition, the much-anticipated high roller event received over 100 entries, with a R36 500 buy-in, beating the previous record of 91 entries at Emperors Palace, and the R200 000 super high roller is now marked as the biggest buy-in event in all of Africa, excluding the previously hosted WPT Alpha 8.

Emperors Palace was also pleased to welcome over 50 prominent international players in this year’s series.

“I would like to extend my appreciation to everyone who assisted with the tournament, including staff, management and partners,” said Yearham. – Citizen reporter

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