An additional feast for US-based poker players awaits just days after the Christmas Holidays. For the first time, poker enthusiasts located in New Jersey can participate in a WPT Main Tour online event. The WPT Online Poker Open $3500 Main Event features a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million with a single starting day and runs from December 27-29, 2020.

The guarantee for the event can certainly be considered as ambitious considering the fact that it takes place in the ring-fenced New Jersey market. Participants have to be located in the Garden State in order to access the tournament via the partypoker US network and can then register on either partypoker NJ, BetMGM Poker or Borgata Poker.

“The WPT Online Poker Open brings the most prestigious prize in poker to New Jersey and the partypoker US Network,” said Adam Pliska, CEO of the World Poker Tour. “WPT’s continued pivot toward online will continue with another landmark for regulated online poker in the United States.”

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• Via www.nydailynews.com An Arizona woman accused of stealing $1 million worth of gambling chips, cash and other valuables from the home of a professional poker player has been arrested in Nevada. International champion Antonio Esfandiari and his father, Bejan Esfandiari, had just returned home from a trip to California on July 13, when they discovered.

The namesake WPT Online Poker Open already took place back in June 2020, the $400 Main Event attracted a field of 868 entries. The prize pool of $317,540 set a new record for the partypoker US network back then, which has since been toppled.

In September 2020, the World Poker Tour teamed up with partypoker New Jersey once more to host the WPT Borgata Online Series. The festival included 10 events in total, and the $1,060 Main Event attracted a field of 440 entries for a prize pool of $432,700. Tony ‘ToNiSiNzz’ Sinishtaj emerged as the champion and claimed the top prize of $77,349.

A total of $917,300 in prize money was awarded throughout the series, which will now be surpassed in the days to come.

With at least $1 million up for grabs, the $3500 Main Event equals the biggest guarantee in the history of regulated online poker in the US. During the 2018 World Series of Poker, two WSOP Online Bracelet Eventsfeatured the same guarantee in the shared player pool of New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware.

“WPT Online and the partypoker US Network are pushing online poker in New Jersey and the United States to another peak with the WPT Online Poker Open Main Tour event,” said Angelica Hael, VP of Global Tour Management for the World Poker Tour. “Following back-to-back record-setting events, this $1 million guarantee will push our partnership to new heights.”

The overall online poker traffic in New Jersey has also seen a significant leap compared to the previous year and will aim to finish 2020 on a high. For the first time in its history, the New Jersey online poker market produced revenue of more than $30 million and had achieved that by September already. The partypoker US Network enjoyed the biggest growth among all competitors and was up 78%.

Winner Joins the WPT Champion’s Club

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The winner of the WPT Online Poker Open Main Tour Event in New Jersey will have their name engraved on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup. Five players achieved this feat during the international WPT World Online Championships $10,000 Main Event on partypoker in July and September 2020.

On top of the prize money and the bragging rights, the newest member of the WPT Champions Club will also receive a $15,000 seat into the prestigious WPT Tournament of Champions presented by Baccarat Crystal.

Among those competing will be WPT Main Event champion Tony Dunst, who hopes to fade his WPT lead commentator duties alongside Vince Van Patten for the live-streamed final table on December 29. Dunst will make the road trip to the Garden State in order to try to add a second WPT Main Tour title to his resume.

“partypoker US Network welcomes the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup back to New Jersey for the WPT Online Poker Open. This event promises the opportunity for players of all bankrolls to compete for the most coveted prize in poker,” said Ray Stefanelli, Director of Poker for partypoker US Network, back when the event was first announced. “Come December, we look forward to welcoming players from across the US to New Jersey for a chance to compete for their share of the $1 million guarantee.”

Satellites Allow new Jersey Poker Players to Enter Prestigious WPT Event for Less

Prior to the weekend on which the $3500 Main Event is hosted, nearly 150 players were already registered putting the event on track to meet the ambitious guarantee. Among them were more than 100 satellite winners who have entered the fray on a bargain.

The satellite system on the partypoker US network has given players the chance to win their entry from as low as $0.25 with further step qualifiers available at $5, $45 and $400.

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David “TheKing411” Coleman turned a $45 satellite entry into a top prize of $56,586 in the previous WPT Online Poker Open $400 Main Event and qualified once more.

2020 WPT Online Poker Open $3,500 Main Event at a Glance

• $3200 + $300 buy-in
• $1 million guarantee
• Unlimited re-entries for the first 12 levels
• Only available to players located in New Jersey
• Winner joins WPT Champions Club; name engraved in Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup
• Live-streamed final table with cards-up coverage and commentary

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Police have arrested Svitlana Silva, a 46-year-old woman suspected of robbing the Las Vegas condo of high-stakes poker pro Antonio Esfandiari in July.

Silva, a former poker dealer, is accused of stealing upwards of $1 million in cash, chips, jewelry, and other valuables belonging to Esfandiari and his father Bejan, and using the funds to gamble. According to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Silva had previously been in a relationship with Bejan, and had knowledge of various access codes, including the combination to a safe.

The stolen haul amounted to $150,000 in cash, about $500,000 in casino chips, designer watches, and even Esfandiari’s custom Big One For One Drop bracelet, which he won along with $18.3 million at the 2012 World Series of Poker.

Silva was spotted gambling at the Bellagio poker room and reportedly played in a high-stakes private game before she was apprehended at the Aria on Aug. 23. Silva claimed innocence, however police found several $25,000 casino chips in her possession during her arrest and even told police she had additional chips in her car.

Silva was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on charges of burglary and possession of stolen property. She has since been bailed out of jail, and a court case is scheduled for October.

Esfandiari is one of poker’s most popular players, and was at one point the winningest tournament player of all time. He is currently no. 16 on the all-time money list with $27.2 million and has three WSOP bracelets to go along with two World Poker Tour titles. Although he owns property in Las Vegas, he spends most of his time with his family at his home in Southern California.

Esfandiari isn’t the only poker pro who has been the victim of a home burglary. Doyle Brunson was beaten by robbers in a home invasion in 1998. In 2008, Hoyt Corkins had his house cleaned out of his two WSOP bracelets, and also two cars and a motorcycle.

WSOP main event champion Jonathan Duhamel was hospitalized in 2011 after he was attacked in his condo by two men assisted by his ex-girlfriend, forcing their way into his safe to steal his 2010 main event bracelet and cash. Danish poker star Theo Jorgensen was actually shot by thieves in his Denmark home for five-figures of Kroner in 2012.

Just last year, four-time WPT champion Darren Elias had his New Jersey home broken into. A man kept Elias’ babysitter at gunpoint while he ransacked the house looking for cash.