Groupe Bernard Tapie is at it again, and this time they’re in the process of staging a $30 million guaranteed poker tournament at London’s Wembley Stadium. The tournament will come at the peak of the proposed International Stadiums Poker Tour, which will see one mega poker event held in a different stadium each year.
French billionaire Bernard Tapie’s son, Laurent, talked about the project by saying, “The ISPT is the largest poker event of all times and in the future will be held annually. The tournament series will always be held in famous stadiums in various countries.”
The French company appears to very serious about the ISPT since they’ve already signed a contract with Wembley Stadium for a date some time next year in May. As of now, Bernard Tapie is expecting 20,000-30,000 players to fill up the tournament field, and the top prize would be worth $10 million. Assuming this plan comes to fruition, it would be the largest poker tournament ever in terms of entrants.
Of course, this is a pretty ambitious plan, and we’ll have to wait to see if it comes to life. Looking at the amount of expected entrants, and the guaranteed prize pool of $30 million, it’s likely that Groupe Bernard Tapie could charge a relatively low buy-in – like say $1,000 or $1,500 – which would attract a lot of players.
This potential project definitely shows that Groupe Bernard Tapie is very serious about getting involved in the poker world. The company has made some waves lately with their proposed acquisition of Full Tilt Poker, which is based on various conditions. The most notable thing that has to happen is FTP settling their dilemma with the US government. Assuming this happens, Groupe Bernard Tapie could become the new owners of Full Tilt Poker.
Tags: Bernard Tapie, Full Tilt Poker, Groupe Bernard Tapie, International Stadiums Poker Tour, ISPT, largest poker tournament ever, Wembley Stadium