Three seasons in one day – or rather, article – as PokerMedia Australia brings you our latest issue of the PMA Diary Dates, featuring a few major additions and some big changes for the year ahead in the lead-up to Christmas … plus a very special schedule for our friends in the Deaf community!
MARCH, APRIL & MAY: ‘Fall’ in, call!
Although the temperatures are starting to cool as we head into autumn, the action on the felt continues to heat up, with the Australian Poker Tour (APT) Sydney series at Campbelltown now underway at The Cube, which then almost leads straight into the Poker Palace Autumn Championships and the debut of the National Poker League (NPL)‘s Empires high-stakes event at Assyrian Sports.
Meanwhile, the team behind Check Raise Poker in Queensland have announced their first championship series, which will once again be held at the Acacia Ridge Hotel in Brisbane’s south. The $500,000 estimated series will culminate in the Moneymaker Main Event, named in honour of the 2003 WSOP Main Event Champion who won the same tournament last October.
There’s also plenty of action in the City of Churches, with Matchroom Poker set to launch their Adelaide Poker Series, before Stacked Social return in late May for the all-new Adelaide Poker Festival. The schedule is comprised of seven championship events over 12 days, as well as the very first ‘Art of Poker’ exhibition, and Australia’s first-ever Progressive KO event.
The tournament format plays in a similar fashion to a Bounty (or Terminator), however as opposed to taking a single bounty chip straight away, a player only claims half the value of their eliminated opponent’s bounty and the other is added to their own, and in turn increasing the value of bounty on their own head as they run deeper into the tournament.
| Dates | Event | Venue | State/Country |
| 18-26 Mar | APT Sydney Season VI | The Cube, Campbelltown | New South Wales, AU |
| 20-27 Mar | Matchroom Adelaide Poker Series | Matchroom Poker, Adelaide | South Australia, Adelaide |
| 23 Mar-2 Apr | Asian Poker Tour Phu Quoc | Corona Resort & Casino | Phu Quoc, VN |
| 30 Mar-2 Apr | NPL Sydney South West: The Empires | Assyrian Sports & Cultural Club, Fairfield Heights | New South Wales, AU |
| 30 Mar-11 Apr | Poker Palace Autumn Championships | Club Marconi, Bossley Park | New South Wales, AU |
| 18-23 Apr | Check Raise Poker Championships | Acacia Ridge Hotel | Queensland, AU |
| 20 Apr-8 May | WPT League Championship Sydney | St Johns Park Bowling Club | New South Wales, AU |
| 25-30 Apr | APLPT Queensland | Southport Sharks | Queensland, AU |
| 28 Apr-7 May | Asian Poker Tour Taipei | Asia Poker Arena | Taipei, TW |
| 10-21 May | Kings Poker Signature Series | St George Leagues Club | New South Wales, AU |
| 20-28 May | APT Gold Coast Season VI | Southport Sharks | Queensland, AU |
| 23-28 May | APLPT Sydney | West HQ, Rooty Hill | New South Wales, AU |
| 25 May-5 Jun | Stacked Poker Festival | Stacked Social, Adelaide | South Australia, AU |
| 30 May-18 Jul | 54th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) | Paris & Horseshoe Casinos, Las Vegas | Nevada, US |
JUNE, JULY & AUGUST: The winter season’s no joke
Winter is coming, and so too are two of the most prestigious events on the Aussie mid-tier circuit: the WPT League Championship Tweed Coast at Seagulls Club during the King’s Birthday Weekend, and the APL Million at Southport Sharks, which last year set an Australian and international record for the largest total prize pool for a tournament series held outside the confines of a casino.
Those numbers are expected to be even bigger, given the APL’s recent announcement that the series has been extended from 11 to 15 days, with 60 events offering buy-ins between $80 and $5,000 for an estimated $7.5 million in total prize pools.
And while organisers remain tight-lipped on what to expect (for now), sources close to PMA are confident that the brand’s marquee festival will deliver on all fronts, especially given the success throughout the most recent APLPT stops along the east coast, and particularly in Melbourne, which garnered more than $2.3 million alone.
It was perhaps best summed up by APL Major Events Director Joel Williams in comments he made on the most recent episode of the ‘Drinks with Jackson’ podcast.
“The landscape’s changed … and poker, as a priority for the casinos, has changed completely,” Williams said. “What that’s meant is that a lot these poker tours have popped up to service demand [and] it’s still incredible to me that players are more spoiled for choice now than when the casinos were in full flight.”
| Dates | Event | Venue | State/Country |
| 2-11 Jun | Asian Poker Tour Ho Chi Minh | TBA | TBA, VN |
| 7-11 Jun | APLPT Albury | Commercial Club | New South Wales, AU |
| 7-11 Jun | WPT League Championship Tweed Coast | Seagulls Club, Tweed Heads | New South Wales, AU |
| 8-12 Jun | Gambier Poker Johnnie Walker Classic | Mount Gambier RSL | South Australia, AU |
| 22-25 Jun | APLPT Tasmania | Wrest Point Hobart | Tasmania, AU |
| 12-16 Jul | APLPT Adelaide | SkyCity Adelaide | South Australia, AU |
| 14-28 Aug | 2023 APL Million | Southport Sharks | Queensland, AU |
| 17-21 Aug | WPT Taiwan | Chinese Texas Hold’em Association, Taipei City | Taipei, TW |
SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER & NOVEMBER: Springtime showdown spectacular
The latter half of the year is now coming together nicely, with the APT returning to Eatons Hill Hotel in Brisbane before heading down to Bankstown Sports for its highly anticipated grand finale, while the WPT Leagues in Illawarra and Sydney both return for a second hit-out either side of the WPT Australia series at The Star Gold Coast.
The team behind the Kings Room have also announced dates for the inaugural Sydney Millions, set to take place at St George Leagues Club in November. The $2,000 buy-in Main Event is expected to bring in a prize pool worth at least $1 million, including a quarter-million-dollar first prize guaranteed.
Kings Poker Managing Director Natan Meylakh is immensely proud of his team’s collective success in building Sydney’s newest independent card room, which was highlighted by its most recent Signature Series that brought in $649,950 in prize money.
“At Kings, we really want players to really enjoy themselves, and the Sydney Millions will be our showpiece,” Meylakh said. “We emphasise our focus on delivering the ultimate player experience in the Kings Room: all-new equipment, amazing lighting, and high-quality customer service.”
| Dates | Event | Venue | State/Country |
| 3-10 Sep | APT Brisbane Season VI – Series II | Eatons Hill Hotel | Queensland, AU |
| 13-24 Sep | WPT League Spring Carnival Illawarra | Wests Illawarra | New South Wales, AU |
| 14-27 Sep | WPT Australia | The Star Gold Coast | Queensland, AU |
| 5-23 Oct | WPT League Championship Sydney | St Johns Park Bowling Club | New South Wales, AU |
| 10-15 Oct | APLPT Sydney | Castle Hill RSL | New South Wales, AU |
| 22-29 Oct | APT Sydney Season VI – Series II | Bankstown Sports | New South Wales, AU |
| 25-29 Oct | APLPT Adelaide | SkyCity Adelaide | South Australia, AU |
| 8-12 Nov | APLPT Albury | Commercial Club | New South Wales, AU |
| 13-30 Nov | Kings Poker Sydney Millions | St George Leagues Club | New South Wales, AU |
| 19-27 Nov | APL Ville 600 | The Ville Resort-Casino, Townsville | Queensland, AU |
| 29 Nov-23 Dec | 2023 WPT World Championship | Wynn Las Vegas | Nevada, US |
DEAF POKER AUSTRALIA: 2023 MAJOR EVENTS SCHEDULE
Rounding out this issue of the DPA Diary Dates is this year’s line-up of state and national championship tournaments from Deaf Poker Australia (DPA) and their respective state and regional Deaf poker groups, together with their trans-Tasman counterparts.
Buoyed by the success of last year’s triumphant return of the DPA Championship at The Star Sydney, the Deaf community has rallied quickly to lock in their dates for all of 2023, beginning with a two-day Victorian Deaf Poker Championship series in Melbourne, with a $150 buy-in Teams Event open to the public this coming Friday before the Main Event on Saturday.
Other major highlights include the Queensland Deaf Poker Championship, which will be held once again alongside the APLPT Queensland series at Southport Sharks, as well as the New Zealand Deaf Poker Championship Main Event at SkyCity Auckland in July.
The 2023 DPA Championship will also return in its traditional month of October, however PMA understands that the non-profit organisation is exploring a number of options for and seeking assistance in hosting another four-day festival (either back in Sydney or the Gold Coast), and will release more details in the coming weeks.
For more information, results, tournament rules and eligibility, follow DPA on Facebook or log onto deafpoker.com.au.
PMA are proud supporters and the Official Media Partners of Deaf Poker Australia.
| Dates | Event | Venue | State/Country |
| 24-25 Mar | Victorian Deaf Poker Championship | Hays Paddock, Kew East | Victoria, AU |
| 29 Apr | Queensland Deaf Poker Championship | Southport Sharks | Queensland, AU |
| 20 May | WA Deaf Poker Championship | Lake Monger Recreational Club | Western Australia, AU |
| 30 Jun-1 Jul | New Zealand Deaf Poker Championship | Auckland Deaf Society / SkyCity Auckland | Auckland, NZ |
| 22 Jul | NSW Deaf Poker Championship | Tollgate Hotel, Parramatta | New South Wales, AU |
| 19 Aug | Northern Rivers Deaf Poker Championship | Ballina RSL | New South Wales, AU |
| Oct (TBC) | 2023 DPA Championship | TBC | TBC |
Do you have a major poker event coming up that you want to share with us? Email landon@pokermedia.com.au or drop us a PM via our socials and we can add it to the list!
You can also check out the calendar widget on our website for all updated scheduled events over the next 12 months, and for a detailed analysis and rating of all poker event structures, visit our friends at the Australian Poker Schedule.
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