The World Poker Tour (WPT) announced last week that 12 players were already confirmed for the US$200,000 Super High Roller event to be held at WPT National Philippines in January, but it seems they might have been a little conservative.
WGM has been reliably informed that an impressive 31 players have either confirmed their attendance or stated their intention to play the event, which is set to be one of the biggest tournaments ever held in Asia.
Only the 2012 Macau High Stakes Super High Roller has boasted a bigger buy-in, with 73 players forking out the US$260,000 entry fee and 21 re-buying to create a massive US$23.5 million prize pool.
WPT National Philippines drew modest numbers when it debuted at Manila’s Solaire Resort & Casino in 2013 but the property’s poker operations have since been taken over by Winfred Yu’s Poker King Club (PKC).
Renowned for hosting the biggest cash game on the planet (known as the “Big Game”), PKC has certainly caught the attention of the poker world with what will be its first Super High Roller tournament and the race will now be on to see if it can break Asia’s prize pool record.
The one other event to come close was the 2013 2013 GuangDong Ltd Asia Millions Main Event in Macau which featured a US$130,000 buy-in, 71 starters and 54 re-buys for a prize pool of US$15.4 million.
The Aussie Millions in Melbourne hosts an AU$250,000 Challenge each year but 46 entries in 2014 is the most it has achieved.
