Season Two Details Released By APAT
With close to 70 live tournaments and 50 online, APAT is delighted to announce details for Season Two of its critically acclaimed tour.
With a new tour sponsor and the addition of a Regional Championship series, extended National Championship series, World Amateur Championship Festival and inaugural Masters Pro-Am; APAT continues to be a world leader in the provision of low cost, high quality, sponsored poker tournaments.
Sponsorship
APAT is pleased to announce that it has signed a Tour headline sponsorship agreement with Blue Square, which will run until the end of Season Two.
Like APAT, Blue Square has shown a great deal of support to poker players throughout the United Kingdom and has added significant value to the popular Grosvenor UK Poker Tour.
The agreement with Blue Square will generate close to $200,000 in sponsorship; more than double APAT’s Season One budget, and be returned to players in GUKPT and WSOP event entry packages, added prize money in live and online events and in the continued removal of player registration fees at all live APAT events.
In addition, Blue Square will market APAT memberships to hundreds of thousands of UK players through its own assets and through sister company Grosvenor Casinos, ensuring the continuing dynamic growth of APAT.
Further APAT sponsors will be announced shortly.
Regional Amateur Championships
Season Two will see the launch of Championship events across APAT’s Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Regions.
With eleven dedicated premium casinos across the UK, APAT members will be able to compete in a series of 5 Regional Championship events to raise their Regional and National rankings, and to gain entry to National Championship events.
APAT Regional Casinos are as follows:-
Northern Region
Grosvenor, Manchester
Grosvenor, Newcastle
Scottish Venue – To Be Confirmed Shortly
Southern Region
Grosvenor Victoria, London
Grosvenor, Brighton
Grosvenor, Luton
Grosvenor, Plymouth
Eastern Region
Grosvenor, Walsall
Dusk Till Dawn, Nottingham (subject to license approval)
Western Region
Grosvenor, Cardiff
Irish Venue – To Be Confirmed Shortly
Regional Championship events will be one day, dealer dealt, run to APAT standardised rules and offer players 2,500 starting chips and 30 minute levels. The buy in per event will be £20, with no registration fee.
These events will be open to a maximum of 80 players and 10% of each field will gain an entry to a National Championship event through a share of the prize pool.
The top three players in each Regional Championship event will gain APAT Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, while the top nine players will all score ranking points.
The four Regional Champions will win an entry to the APAT World Amateur Poker Championship event.
While it is expected that most members will play at the APAT cardroom closest to their home, members can choose to compete in any Regional event. However, please note that members scoring ranking points in, for example, a Southern Regional event cannot then combine those points with points they have earned in an Eastern Regional event to grow their Regional points total. Points scored at any Regional event will count towards their National ranking points total.
National Amateur Championships
APAT’s incredibly popular series of National Championships will continue with following events scheduled:-
* United Kingdom Amateur Poker Championship
* English Amateur Poker Championship
* Scottish Amateur Poker Championship
* Welsh Amateur Poker Championship
* Irish Amateur Poker Championship
In addition to their prize money, Championship Trophy and Gold Medal, the winner of each of the above events will win an expenses paid entry to a televised Grosvenor UK Poker Tour main event.
* European Amateur Poker Championship
In addition to their prize money, Championship Trophy and Gold Medal, the winner of the above events will win an expenses paid entry to the televised Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Grand Final.
* World Championship of Amateur Poker (“WCOAPâ€)
The 2008 World Championship of Amateur Poker will take place at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London and be extended across several days to include Omaha, Heads Up and Stud events, in addition to the World Amateur Poker Championship main event. The winner of the main event will receive an expenses paid entry to the $10,000 Championship event at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
With all of the above National events, Season One Champions will be invited back to defend their titles.
* APAT Forum Challenge
The APAT Forum Challenge is a new event with entry available via poker forums across the UK and Europe. Played over two days to an APAT Championship structure, this event will crown the Champion Community of 2008. The most successful forum will win an added cash prize, while the winning player will receive an expenses paid entry to a televised Grosvenor UK Poker Tour main event.
* APAT International Team Challenge
The APAT International Team Challenge is a new invitational event with entry extended to the leading 16 APAT ranked players by competing country, at the end of Season Two. This two day event will feature International teams of four players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland and will feature added prize money and unique APAT International team shirts for each player.
* APAT Masters
The APAT Masters is a new event that will enable APAT members, both amateur and professional to compete together for the first time. With a buy in of £300 and no registration fee, this event will present a tremendous learning opportunity for developing players while allowing professional players their first taste of an APAT ran event. The winner of the Masters will receive an expenses paid entry to the $10,000 Championship event at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
Qualifying Events
In addition to the Regional Championship events, members can qualify for APAT National Championship events through a series of online satellite events at Blue Square and through direct buy in at www.apat.com. Specific details will be announced in the lead up to each event.
Online Series
The APAT Online Series will move to Blue Square for Season Two.
Entry fees will be reduced to $10, plus a $1 registration fee and players will start each event with a deepstack of 5,000 chips.. The number of events will double and tournaments will take place on both Thursday and Saturday evenings, once a fortnight.
The Online Series WCOAP will again feature but the Championship Omaha, Stud, Heads Up and Texas Hold’em events will be held as feature events in four separate months. Blue Square will add additional money to the prize pools.
APAT Rankings
Ranking points can be earned in APAT Regional and National Championship events and through our Online Series of events at Blue Square.
The winner of the APAT Rankings in Season Two will win an expenses paid entry to the televised Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Grand Final.
Players can compete in as many events as they wish, but they will be able to use their points earned in a maximum of twenty ranking events in calculating their final total. Of those twenty events, a maximum of five live ranking events can be used.
A complete schedule of APAT events and venues will be made available shortly.
Membership
Membership Levels
APAT membership will be granted as follows:-
* Association Membership – free
An Association Member will be eligible to vote in Amateur Poker Association ballots and play in APAT Online Series events.
* Tour Membership – £10 per annum
A Tour Member will be eligible to eligible to vote in Amateur Poker Association ballots, play in APAT Online Series events and enter APAT live tournaments.
* Organisational Membership
An Organisational Member will be able to allocate free Tour Membership to individuals within their organisation. Organisational membership will free to organisations and individuals who promote APAT through their websites and blogs.
* Professional Membership
A Professional Member will be eligible to vote in Amateur Poker Association ballots and play in the APAT Masters and any additional Pro-Am event that APAT promotes.
With immediate effect, all existing APAT members have been upgraded to a free 12 month Tour level membership.
Branding
In light of allowing professional players to join, APAT will introduce some brand changes at the start of Season Two, to take into account a wider role in the poker community.
For the sake of clarity, professional players will not be allowed to compete in APAT Regional, National or other non Pro-Am events. It is APAT’s intention to extend the number of Pro-Am events in Season Three but the most unique part of APAT’s offering will remain our Amateur Championship events.
Merchandise
APAT will open a merchandise store in late September featuring APAT clothing and poker accessories.
Organisation
To cope with increased demand, APAT will shortly start recruiting the following voluntary positions: 4 x Regional Managers, 4 x Assistant Regional Managers, 1 x Reporter, 1 x Live Updater and 1 x Administrator. Role holders will receive expenses payments and paid entry to two APAT Championship events during Season Two. Members interested in these vacancies will need to be strong communicators and be very passionate about working within the APAT team.
