Big poker prizepool comes to Auckland

Sky City Festival of Poker 2015 Main Event winner, Te Rangi Matenga, was the fifth Kiwi in seven years to win the Main Event at the festival.

The top card sharks in Australasia will flock to Auckland over the next nine days hoping to turn a little into a lot at Sky City's Festival of Poker (FOP) series.

The FOP offers ten side events ranging from $50 to $1100 buy-in and culminates in a $1650 buy-in main event that is expected to generate a prize pool of over $310,000.

The nine-day tournament begins on Saturday 19 November with the main event held from 24-27 November.

SKy City Auckland Table Games Manager Radha Vellanki said she is looking forward to hosting players from across Australasia at the highly-anticipated tournament.

"The Sky City Festival of Poker always delivers an exciting showcase of some of the best New Zealand poker being played and the atmosphere is electric at the main event," said Vellanki. "Five of the last seven main event winners have been Kiwi players, so we encourage great local players to register to compete."

Over the past seven years, the main event has seen five Kiwi winners take home winnings ranging from $55,000 to more than $250,000.

Set at Sky City's new dedicated Poker Room, the festival has a diverse tournament offering including several exciting cash game options for all types of players.

"Players will have everything they need close at hand as well as accommodation and a range of bars and restaurants within the Sky City Auckland precinct," said Vellanki.

Interested players are encouraged to register online or in the Auckland Poker Room to secure their place in the tournament.

The 2016 SKYCITY Festival of Poker has an action-packed schedule of tournaments for this year, including:

-a $1,100 No Limit Texas Hold'em Warm Up two-day event
-a $550 Pot Limit Omaha & No Limit Hold'em Turbo Rotation event
-a $50 No Limit Texas Hold'em Flipout event
-$350 Blockbuster satellite tournament

Full tournament schedule, registration details and full terms and conditions for the 2016 SKYCITY Festival of Poker can be viewed here.