The Bellagio made an announcement recently about the 2011 Five Star World Poker Classic. The event is set to take place in 2011 in April but now the schedule has been changed and moved to May. The World Poker Tour Championship no limit hold’em tournament with a $25,000 buy-in will be moved to May 21st to the 27th 2011.
The WSOP will be taking place in May as well so it looks as though the Bellagio is trying to set the tournament around the same time to get the pros to compete in it as well. The 2010 WPT championship finished up last week and attracted only 195 players, which was the lowest ever since the first season.
Jack McClelland the Bellagio tournament director commented that he knew it would be difficult to compete this year with PokerStars EPT events in San Remo and Monte Carlo which took place at the same time as the 2010 Championship.
McClelland commented: “We have hosted this tournament in the same time slot for a number of years and they scheduled right on top of us. I couldn’t overcome it. maybe they didn’t put it on top of us on purpose; it could have been the only time they had available but it has made it tough for us.”
“Each individual casino has to do what’s best for them. It might be better if the World Poker Tour Championship was held in the middle of January or something, but at that time the consumer electronics show is in Vegas and we can’t get any rooms,” said McClelland.
McClelland also had reservations about hosting the event so close to the WSOP. He said it was a difficult decision and he doesn’t want to overlap them at all. He is trying to make the schedule where players will come to the WPT championship and then go to Europe before the world series.
Below is the adjusted schedule for the 2011 WPT championship:
Tuesday, May 3: Event No. 1 ($500 no-limit hold’em event)
Wednesday, May 4: Event No. 2 ($1,000 Omaha eight-or-better)
Wednesday, May 4: Event No. 3 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em)
Thursday, May 5: Event No. 4 ($500 no-limit hold’em)
Friday, May 6: Event No. 5 ($1,000 H.O.R.S.E.)
Friday, May 6: Event No. 6 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em w/rebuys)
Saturday, May 7: Event No. 7 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em)
Sunday, May 8: Event No. 8 ($1,000 Seniors no-limit hold’em)
Sunday, May 8: Event No. 9 ($500 no-limit hold’em)
Monday, May 9: Event No. 10 ($1,000 pot-limit Omaha w/rebuys)
Monday, May 9: Event No. 11 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em)
Tuesday, May 10: Event No. 12 ($500 no-limit hold’em)
Wednesday, May 11: Event No. 13 ($1,000 pot-limit Omaha 8OB w/rebuys)
Wednesday, May 11: Event No. 14 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em)
Thursday, May 12: Event No. 15 ($1,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven lowball w/rebuys)
Thursday, May 12: Event No. 16 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em)
Friday, May 13: Event No. 17 ($1,000 Omaha eight-or-better)
Friday, May 13: Event No. 18 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em w/rebuys)
Saturday, May 14: Event No. 19 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em)
Sunday, May 15: Event No. 20 ($3,000 H.O.R.S.E.)
Sunday, May 15: Event No. 21 ($500 no-limit hold’em)
Monday, May 16: Event No. 22 ($1,000 pot-limit Omaha w/rebuys)
Monday, May 16: Event No. 23 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em)
Tuesday, May 17: Event No. 24 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em w/rebuys)
Wednesday, May 18: Event No. 25 ($1,000 pot-limit Omaha w/rebuys)
Wednesday, May 18: Event No. 26 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em)
Thursday, May 19: Event No. 27 ($5,000 no-limit hold’em)
Thursday, May 19: Event No. 28 ($2,500 no-limit hold’em super satellite)
Friday, May 20: Event No. 29 ($2,500 no-limit hold’em super satellite)
Friday, May 20: Event No. 30 ($2,500 no-limit hold’em super satellite)
Saturday, May 21: Event No. 31 ($25,000 WPT no-limit hold’em championship)
Saturday, May 21: Event No. 32 ($2,500 no-limit hold’em super satellite)
Tuesday, May 24: Event No. 33 ($1,000 no-limit hold’em w/rebuys)