Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Okla., will announce that coinciding with the opening of its new convention center next summer it will be bringing in a World Poker Tour event starting July 16. Already hosting in January the second largest World Series of Poker Circuit, this truly is quite a coup for Choctaw.
The WPT will fill the slot right after the WSOP main event ends in Las Vegas, formerly held by the Card Player Poker Tour for the past three years. That event will be moved to April to replace the Choctaw Spring Classic. All events will be run by Jimmy Sommerfeld and his Poker Executives team.
The WPT will include commentators Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten, the Royal Flush Girls, the Raw Deal segment host Tony Dunst and tournament director Matt Savage.
In addition, Savage also is on the board for the Poker Tournament Directors Association. The TDA is comprised of poker room personnel, players and media from around the world whose objective is to draft a standard set of rules for tournaments. I’m a member of the TDA and attended its summit in Las Vegas in June 2013. The updated rules are on (pokertda.com). The management at the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla., uses the rules for the River Poker Series and all other events and the management at Choctaw now uses the rules in its entirety for all tournaments.
I’d like to encourage all poker rooms nationwide to use the TDA rules. Having all players and casino personnel on the same page makes for a better, happier and calmer environment in which to play.
Every player should read the rules and understand them.
For $10, anyone can take the test and get TDA-certified. Every floor person in America should become certified and every dealer should be given a copy of the rules and be required to study and know them. Choctaw dealer Frederick Dionne just became TDA certified. Congratulations for being proactive and a great example.
— Email John at anteupjohndshort@gmail.com.
