Clearwater-based Ante Up Magazine is bringing their poker tour to the Silks Poker Room at Tampa Bay Downs this February! The first-ever Ante Up Poker Tour at Tampa Bay Downs offers players a full week of no-limit Texas hold 'em tournament action between February 4-10, headlined by a main event with a guaranteed $60,000 in prize money! All told, there is a minimum of $95,000 up for grabs in this week-long series, making it one of the biggest events of the year at Silks. If you're a poker player anywhere in Tampa Bay, you won't want to miss out!
There are plenty of ways to enter the Main Event. You can either post the $250 entry fee, or you can win your way in through a number of satellites:
- Step 1 Satellite: Want to win your way into the Main Event for as little as $25? Here's where you start. The Step 1 satellite begins at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, February 4. There's a $25 entry fee for 4,000 chips, with an optional $20 add-on to buy another 4,000 chips. If you get there late, or you bust out and want to buy your way back in, you can register or rebuy through the start of Level 5. For every $85 in the prize pool, a seat in the Step 2 satellite will be awarded. For example, if there is $1,275 in the prize pool, the last 15 players in the field will win a place in the Step 2 satellite.
- Step 2 Satellite: This satellite will start at noon on Thursday, February 7. The entry fee is $85 for 5,000 tournament chips, with an extra 5,000 chips available for an extra $20 at the start of the tournament. Late registration and rebuys are available until the start of Level 5. For every $240 in the prize pool, a seat in the Main Event will be given away at the end of the satellite. For instance, if there is $4,800 in the prize pool, the last 20 players in the field will win a spot in the Main Event.
- January High Hand Entries: A series of $30 satellites for Event #1 and Event #5 of the Ante Up Poker Tour will be held each Thursday during the month of January... and in these tournaments, you can also win your way up into the Main Event! During this satellite, you win a seat in the Step 2 satellite if you have the highest hand of any player in Level 2, and you win a seat in the Main Event if you have the highest hand in Level 3. Plus, if you get a royal flush at any time during these January satellites, you win a main event seat!
Now, let's run down the events during the Ante Up Poker Tour at Silks Poker Room.
- Event #1 - $160 NLH: The kickoff event begins at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, February 4. The entry fee for this NLH tournament is $150 for 10,000 chips, with an optional $10 add-on to put another 5,000 chips on your starting stack. (There are also $30 satellites on January 10 and January 17 where you can win a seat in Event #1.) Late registration and rebuys are available until the start of Level 9. This tournament has a guaranteed prize pool of $10,000!
- Event #2 - Super Seniors $130 NLH: Card players aged 50 and over are welcome to sign up for this tournament. Your base $125 entry fee gets you 10,000 chips, with an extra 5,000 chips available for just $5 more. Cards are in the air starting at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 5. Rebuys and late registration are available until the start of Level 9. This tournament has a guaranteed $5,000 in prize money.
- Event #3 - Monster Stack $130 NLH: Want to play some deep stack no-limit hold 'em? This tournament is for you. It kicks off at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 5, and $125 buys you 20,000 chips... but you'll certainly want to buy another 20,000 chips for the low, low price of $5. Rebuys and late signups continue until the start of Level 9. The Monster Stack event has a guaranteed $5,000 prize pool.
- Event #4 - $130 NLH: This matinee tournament begins at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 6. You get 8,000 chips for $125 and an extra 2,000 chips for a $5 add-on. Rebuys and late signups continue until the start of Level 9. This tournament has a guaranteed $5,000 prize pool.
- Event #5: $230 NLH with Knockouts: There will be some wild action in this event because players win a $50 bounty for any competitor they knock out of the tournament! Play begins at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 6. The buy-in is $220 for 10,000 chips, plus an optional 5,000 chip add-on for only $10 more. You can register or rebuy until Level 9 begins, and there's $10,000 in guaranteed prize money. If you want to see some aggressive poker, this is the tournament for you.
Finally, the Main Event of the Ante Up Poker Tour at Tampa Bay Downs is a four-day event. You can sign up for any or all of the five "Day 1" stages on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to try and earn your way into Day 2 on Sunday, February 10.
- Afternoon Day 1 events start at 1:00 p.m. on February 8 and 9. Evening Day 1 events start at 6:00 p.m. on February 7, 8, and 9.
- Rebuys and late registration are also allowed until the beginning of Level 9 in each Day 1 stage.
- Competitors begin with 15,000 chips for a $240 buy-in, with 10,000 more chips available for just $10 more.
- If you survive more than one Day 1 stage, your largest remaining stack comes with you to Day 2.
On Sunday, the survivors from all five Day 1 stages return to battle it out in Day 2. No-limit action will continue until one player has all the chips and claims the biggest share of a guaranteed $60,000 in prize money! Be at the Silks Poker Room on Sunday, February 10 to see who will be the ultimate champion of the Ante Up Poker Tour at Tampa Bay Downs!
For complete rules and formats of all the Ante Up Poker Tour, visit Silks at Tampa Bay Downs.
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