Canadian Open Poker Championships Begins This Week
In two days time, the fifth annual Canadian Open Poker Championships will begin, and this year's organizers are expecting over 2,000 participants to enter.
The competition, which will run from August 19th to August 29th, will offer prizes totaling $3.5 million, an amount that is three times more than last year's prize pool.
Amateurs and professionals alike are expected to descend on the three Calgary casinos where the championships are due to be held the Grey Eagle Casino, Cash Casino and Deerfoot Inn and Casino.
Until this year, the championships have been held at one casino only.
The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Poker Tour, Kelly Kellner explained that the rising popularity of poker on a global scale was reflected by the increased number of participants in this year's Canadian Poker Open Championship.
"The poker demographic has been growing really well," said Kellner.
According to Kellner, the "generally accepted number" is that there are over 3.5 million poker players in Canada.
The growth in numbers has also been influenced by televised poker and online poker.
The ten day poker event will boast 13 different tournaments, with entry fees ranging from $200 to $5,000.
The championships are expected to draw some big names in the professional field, including Gavin Smith, 2010 World Series of Poker event winner, as well as Matt Jarvis, a Vancouver native who earned entry into the 2010 WSOP main event final table.
