The World Poker Tour (WPT) recently confirmed that they have partnered once again with DraftKings Inc. for the upcoming Season XVI WPT European Championship. Season XVI Championship’s €3,300 Main Event will take place from January 10-15, 2018 at the Spielbank Casino in Berlin, Germany.
DraftKings is sponsoring the fantasy qualifying contest to the event everyday from November 12 where players will have a chance to win an entry. One fantasy winner will be awarded a special package each day which will contain travel and accommodation in Europe, plus an entry to the WPT European Championship €3,300 Main Event.
DraftKings is also offering additional promotions on-site during the festival.
This is not the first time WPT and DraftKings have come together for a Championship partnership. The two companies partnered 4 years ago for the first time during WPT Season XII. The partnership was fruitful for both companies and continued until Season XIII. This came to a halt in 2014, when DraftKings signed with World Series of Poker (WSOP) as its official sponsor.
The two-year deal with the WSOP created a DFS Lounge at the Rio and a DraftKings 50/50 event at a $1,500 buy-in. Towards the end of 2015, DraftKings was forced out of the market when Nevada Gaming regulators cracked down on DFS operators for operating without a sports betting license.
Season XVI of the WPT European Championship will take place from January 5 to 15 and will also be the first time since Season XII that a European event will be televised. There will be €1.6 million in guaranteed prize pools up for grabs throughout the festival which includes both WPTDeepStacks and WPT Main Events. The WPTDeepStacks Berlin €1,500 Main Event will kickstart the festival from January 5 to 8 with a €500,000 guaranteed prize pool. The WPT €3,300 Main Event will offer a €1 million guaranteed prize pool where registration and unlimited reentry will be open during the first nine 60-minute levels.
Poker players who would like to be a part of the European Championship but are finding it difficult to raise the buy-in, can make use of the following options. Two ways to enter the European Championship are through the five satellite tournaments that will be held during the festival or through online qualifiers. Apart from the DraftKings’ DFS qualifiers for the WPT €3,300 Main Event, a special qualifier will also run at 888poker. Qualifiers for the WPT European Championship are also happening on WPT’s ClubWPT.
