The tournament series, which will take place at the River Rock Casino in the Greater Vancouver area, will be held in partnership with government regulated online poker site PlayNow.com.
Jason March, player services manager for PlayNow.com, broke the news earlier today at the 2012 WSOP Main Event.
“We are so excited,” he said. “This is going to be a fantastic event. We finalized the deal with the WSOP today.”
10 Tournaments with Two Entirely Online
The stop will feature 10 tournaments and will break new ground in a couple of areas.
It marks the first time the WSOP has ventured into Canada and it’s also the first time a major poker series has been held in the area.
Interestingly two of the events will take place on PlayNow.com with online winners receiving real WSOPC rings.
It’s believed to be the first time a World Series of Poker tournament has taken place entirely online.
Although Vancouver has yet to host a tournament the size of the WSOPC, the BC Lottery Corporation, which owns PlayNow.com, already hosts the British Columbia Poker Championship every year.
This year the BCPC will be pushed back to spring to accommodate the WSOPC stop.
Vancouver Hot Spot for Black Friday Refugees
One of the only regulated online poker sites in North America, PlayNow.com has tripled in size since last summer and put 44 players into the 2012 Main Event including spokesman Roberto Luongo.
“We just got final approval today for WSOPC so you’ll see a lot more information in the coming weeks,” he said.
One of the biggest cities in Canada, Vancouver is located on the west coast and has a population of over 600,000. Routinely listed as one of the most livable cities in the world, Vancouver hosted the Winter Olympics in 2010.
In the last year Vancouver also became a hot spot for American poker players after Black Friday forced most poker sites out of the U.S. market.
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