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The World Poker Tour may have been back in vintage form last month with a field of more than 1,500 turning up in Florida, but it will continue this month in decidedly non-vintage form: on an Asia-based app.

The WPT Spring Festival is set to begin today with the first of 13 numbered events as part of a series that's scheduled to stretch from Feb. 11-22.

Online Blackjack Real Money Usa Reddit 2021 These savy gamers commonly take capabilities of bonus codes and gives to boot, as a result of in any case, the more free bonuses, the more they can play on the houses money. Many of the traditional betting shops opened up websites, accepting deposits online and opening the door for players to Blackjack Reddit play real money games including poker, casino, and bingo. To prevent fraud and to protect the real money gamblers in the UK, the Gambling Commission was established in 2005.

Perhaps most interestingly, all of the tournaments will take place on the Poker King app. All of the buy-ins are denoted in Chinese yuan, and the total guarantee offered will be ¥12 million (~$1.85 million). The bulk of that comes from the ¥2,000 (~$300) Main Event, which features a ¥10,000,000 (~$1.54 million) guarantee.

Angelica Hael, VP of global tour management of the WPT, called it a 'first-of-its-kind' event in a January presser.

Festival Highlights

The Main Event kicks off Feb. 17 and looks to feature a slow structure as it's scheduled to include three starting flights, a Day 2, a Day 3, and a livestreamed final table on Feb. 22 to close out the series. PokerNews was told the livestream will look similar to those used by the WPT for several 2020 online events.

They'll need 5,000 entries to meet the lofty guarantee. In addition to sponsored players Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey, celebrities promised to be participating include actor Andy Milonakis and NBA legend Allen Iverson. Knockouts of select players will be worth ¥1,500 (~$230).

It's unclear whether the winner will get a place on the Champion's Cup. PokerNews was told only that the WPT Spring Festival falls under the company's 'Special Event' category similar to some of the online events from 2020.

In addition to the Main Event, there's a ¥10,000 (~$1,500) High Roller with a ¥400,000 (~$62,000) guarantee, a ¥600 (~$92) WPT Kickoff Event with a ¥500,000 (~$77,000) guarantee, and a ¥200 (~$31) WPT Mini Main Event with another ¥500,000 guarantee.

WPT Spring Festival Schedule -- Numbered Event Starting Days

What is Poker King and Who Can Play?

Of course, many players will attempt to search for the Poker King app in hopes of participating in the WPT Spring Festival. After all, it's not often a $1.5 million prize pool is available at the touch of a button for the affordable price of $300.

However, many will likely be disappointed.

'The Poker King app is available on the Poker King network in various Asian regions which players can see by visiting the platform,' the WPT said when asked about the app's availability. 'The platform is entirely mobile based at the current time.'

A site rep on TwoPlusTwo was more explicit in a posting from last June:

'If you are NOT a Chinese, Vietnamese, or Thai citizen or permanent resident that has your own bank card you can NOT play.'

According to the site's 'About' section, it's licensed in the Philippines and dates from 2018. It claims 1.2 million registered users and 100,000 players online, a figure that wouldn't look puny compared to some of the biggest online rooms in the world.

Is this the Beginning of a Trend, Paying Off $10M?

The recent sale of the WPT also came with a clause that up to $10 million additional cash will be paid by new owners Element Partners LLC to the sellers, money that will come from 'WPT-branded tournament entry fees on Element-owned or licensed gaming platforms.' That money is due over the three years following closing.

Is this such an event? If so, this could be the beginning of a series of events on Poker King in an effort to pay off that sum. PokerNews inquired as to whether Poker King was associated with Element.

'The company is currently going through the closing process and is legally restricted from commenting beyond the press release,' came the response.

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Whether it's poker or a casino pit game, players wouldn’t have the experience they do without one important person – the dealer. While they’re responsible for slinging cards and facilitating games, they’re also a silent observer of human nature.

Recently, we asked specifically blackjack dealers to share their wildest stories from working in the industry. No names nor locations are being reported to respect the privacy of those who shared. While we cannot 100% confirm all of the stories below, the dealers claim to be speaking from their own personal experience.

Please note, so stories contain actions and behaviors that some may find offensive.

Editor's note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or/clarity.

The Biohazard

Dealing in high limit blackjack. A regular (drunk) player is playing, but his hand is down and in front of him. I understand men have itches or need to adjust so it doesn't bother me, but it’s there just a little too long. Figure I would get the suit's attention and let them know I'm uncomfortable.

Just as I glance over my shoulder I hear the suit say to the other suit in the pit., 'OMG! You call surveillance, I’ll call the manager.' I’m thinking, “Well shit, now I have to wait to say anything. Something is going on back there.”

Next thing I know security comes in and escorts the man out. Lead security is standing in front of my game. A person walks up to my game to play and lead security says, 'I'm sorry, this table is closed, we have a biohazard.' Then it dawns on me. I lean back and look down. The man had whipped it out and peed under my table. He splashed onto my shoes! I was never so thankful we can't wear open-toed shoes!

High-limit VIP members. Gotta love 'em!

Pop a Squat

I was working valet at my first casino job. I took a break one night and headed towards the break room. I have to go through the casino and doing so, I witness a woman playing blackjack stand up on the table, pull up her skirt, squat, and piss on the table. Never seen that before.

A Short Partnership

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At an Indian casino 20 years ago, an elderly man was playing blackjack $100 a hand. He got a pair of aces, had no money left, and asked if anyone would go partners. A big guy gave him $100. The player split and got a and a . He won one and lost one. The backer said, “Where's my half.?”

The elderly man says, “Your half lost.”

The big guy picked him up by the neck and both got escorted out.

Double Down

About 20 years ago, I was dealing blackjack at about 3 a.m. with two players at the table. A third player walked up, an older lady, and plunked down $20, so I dealt. Action got to her, she has and I have a showing. She slid up another $20 and said, 'Double down.'

We had a bit of a language barrier, so I asked her, 'Do you mean split?” (Showing two fingers and spreading out her two nines.

She grabbed the cards, put them together, and said again, 'Double down.'

After I scolded her for grabbing the cards, I asked her, 'Ma'am, do you want to split and play two hands?'

While I'm motioning to her that she has that option...assuming she doesn't understand me, she got loud and said, 'DOUBLE DOWN...ONE CARRRRRD!!' waving one finger in my face, like her hand was on fire.

I'm convinced her decision is clearly shown on video, so as loud as I could I yelled, 'DOUBLE ON A HARD 18.' Then I peeled off the card, and of course, it was a three.

I busted my hand, sized into her bet, and she scooped up her $80 before waddling off into the night. I never saw her again. The other two players and I just froze there for a second, dumbfounded.

There Goes the College Fund

Years ago, I had a regular that I saw on a weekly basis. Nice guy, would play between $300-$500 each visit with an average bet of $20-$40 a hand on blackjack. One day I walk into the pit and see he’s got $5,000 in front of him. I look at my boss and said, 'He's doing good today.”

My boss looked at me and said, 'He's down $25k.” I was confused because I'd never seen him play that big. I’m on the next table over watching him play two hands at $300 each (our casino max) and watch him get hammered. The look on his face told me he was freaking out. When I left my table, he was down to his last $500 and shaking.

I walked to the bathroom on the gaming floor and did my business. As I'm washing my hands I hear some screaming outside. I see the guy run into the bathroom looking like he saw the grim reaper. Right behind him is his wife, red in the face from yelling. She runs up on him, punches him straight in the face, and knocked him out. She left and security showed up a moment later.

Security took my statement, called for an EMT, and that was the last I ever saw of that player. When I got back to the pit, everyone was talking about the guy. Turned out he had a few good days at the tables so decided to cash out his kids’ college funds and try to make more.

Where Did They Go?

One night I was dealing blackjack and I noticed this girl was losing and losing. She was almost down to her last few chips when a guy comes and sits down. They start chatting and he starts winning. She eventually loses all her money and he started giving her some chips.

The talking turned more into flirting as time passed and he continued to give her some chips. I noticed she had a wedding ring on earlier but after about five minutes of him giving her money, the wedding ring was no longer there. They continued to flirt and joke and he kept winning and she kept losing. I eventually get tapped out, and when I came back 20 minutes later, both were gone.

Almost a Dead Man’s Hand

On my second or third day at a new casino I was dealing shoe blackjack and had a pretty good table. I was full so got almost to the end when I noticed spot three had his head down on the table. I said, “Sir, you can't put your head on the table.”

The lady to his left tapped him and he just fell back out of the chair. It was insane. I yelled for the floor and no response. So, the whole table yelled, and finally, a floor showed up, and then the EMTs got there. The guy was technically dead. It took 14 minutes to revive him and get him into an ambulance. Turned out he had an aneurysm.

After that, I got left in for three hours. Didn't even realize it until I had to pee. Was some straight crazy shit. His sister came in the next week to tell us he was going to make a full recovery.

No Drinks on the Table

A player sits down at my blackjack table and sets his drink down on the layout.

Floor: “Hey man, you need to put that in there.” (points at cup holder)
Player: “Oh.” (Begins to pour his drink out into the cup holder)
Floor: “No! That isn’t what I meant. The glass goes into the holder.”
Player: Picks up the cup holder and drinks what he poured into it and then sets his drink into the holder.

Do you have a casino story to tell for future editions of “Tales from the Pit”? Feel free to reach out to PokerNews on either or Facebook or Twitter accounts. You can also email [email protected]

_{*Images from wiki commons.}

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