The 2024 WPT World Championship is in full swing at the Wynn, with several big events already in the bag and the Championship itself still waiting to crown the winner.
While the spotlight is usually on stories about players and big prizes, it is always interesting to talk to people from the “other side” to see how they make all the magic happen. And who better to talk about it than Matt Savage, the WPT Executive Tour Director?
This time around, he got to wear several different hats during the Festival, and even got to sit down and play in the big $5M ClubWPT Gold freeroll. I was able to pull him away from his seemingly never-ending duties for a few minutes and talk about some of the biggest and most interesting moments that marked the last couple of weeks.
WPT Prime Championship Does It Again
It was mind-blowing to see the WPT Prime Championship get close to 10,000 runners once again, and the final Day 1 flight broke all records for the number of entries. So, I was curious to know if Matt was as surprised as the rest of the poker world.
“You know, we had a shorter time frame than we had last year and we didn’t have the ballroom until December 8th because of the big conference there, so I didn’t know what to expect.”
“Last year, we had a Friday and a Saturday as well and this year we started during the week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, so I was always afraid that we were going to have a much lower number. It turns out it was a very small difference from last year, but to have that record-breaking number on the last flight that Wednesday was amazing, and I was very happy with that.”
To have a pretty much five-figure number of entries in any poker tournament is almost crazy, especially when we know that there are many events out there happening at the same time across the world and plenty of lower buy-ins tournaments.
This naturally begs the question – is there some special secret to it. What is it that attracts players to the WPT Prime championship in droves?
“I think the partnership with the Wynn and the fact that they do such a wonderful job here plays a big role. This year, we had that $5 million freeroll, which also helped bring a lot of players in to play that may not have come if they had not had that freeroll seat. So I think that was a big addition to our festival here at the Wynn. “
“In my opinion, if you walk in this building and you look around, you know this is the most beautiful poker room and the most beautiful tournament area you’re going to find in poker. So I think that makes it for a very nice partnership that we have here with the Wynn.”
The Biggest Freeroll in All of Poker
The $5M Invitational Freeroll set up to promote and celebrate the launch of the new sweepstakes poker site ClubWPT Gold was one of the biggest highlights of the festival.
Players from all over the United States gathered here in Las Vegas to compete for a massive prize pool, with $1,000,000 reserved for the eventual winner. It was also a very interesting event in a sense that it brought together seasoned pros and many poker enthusiasts who’ve never played in a live event.
Matt got to experience all of it first hand, as this time around, he was actually playing instead of running things.
“I actually played in the freeroll myself, and before we even started playing three people at my table said they’d never played a poker tournament before. I don’t think that’s optimal strategy because I think it’s a bad idea to tell somebody that you’ve never played poker,” said Matt with a smile.
“But it was proven when they started playing, as they did not know how it was going to go. So I think that to have that kind of mix of amateur recreational players and professionals playing made it for a really interesting day, for sure.”
Holding a tournament with such a mix of players coming from all over the country certainly makes for an interesting experience, but that’s only once the cards are in the air. There is a lot of work that happens in the background to make an event like this possible, and Matt Savage knows these struggles all too well.
“We had to have players register the night before to know how many were going to show, since we weren’t sure about the numbers. Players had to pick up their swag bag and register for the tournament, so there were a lot of moving parts. “
“You know, Jamie Kerstetter and their team with ClubWPT Gold did a fantastic job of getting those players signed up and getting the buzz out. I mean, it was so amazing. Everybody was talking about that freeroll all over the industry.“
“People were so mad at me because they didn’t get in there, but in the end it was a terrific success. If ClubWPT Gold is as successful as we think it’s going to be, we’ll do a lot more of that.”
Although 2,000 seats were awarded, only some 1,500 players showed up to play, which was good news for those who turned up, of course. They got even more value from being there as if a $5,000,000 freeroll wasn’t enough. But I was curious to know if this type of “overlay” was expected.
“There were a lot of players that didn’t know that they had won seats. There are people who actually had won seats but couldn’t make it there. There were some that actually had won the seats and already had other plans. You know, things came up,” elaborated Matt Savage.
“Everybody that was outside of the tournament said we should give away those 500 seats. Everybody that was inside the tournament said, no, keep them out. For us to get 1,500 was about what I expected. ”
Making the Magic Happen
Although (for a change), he wasn’t on the tournament staff for this particular festival, Matt Savage is privy to all the organizational details and everything that needs to happen for a poker event of this size to be put in motion. So, he shared with me some of the details.
“Well, I am not on the tournament staff here, so it’s kind of a little difficult and interesting for me. I come in here and I try and help their team with whatever they need from me, I’m willing to help. I’m out here on the floor talking to players and just being a part of the vibe.”
“They do such a fantastic job. Ray Pulford, Ryan Beauregard, and Andy Ormsby do such a wonderful job with everything they do here. It’s more of like a support role. I am not a tournament director here, even though that’s what I love doing more than anything, but as I said, they just do such a great job that I’m happy to be here to support them.”
I was also curious to know how they care of all the staffing needs, making sure there are enough dealers and other personnel on the floor to accommodate such big player numbers. It looks so easy and smooth while tournaments are happening, but what does it take to set it all up?
“Usually, we partner with the casino, and the casino itself supplies the dealers and some of the staff, and I work with them when I am tournament director. You know, it’s always nice to come in here and see so many people and dealers that I’ve worked with before. So I know what to expect. I know that they know what they’re doing, and they do a fantastic job.”
What to Expect from WPT in 2025 & Beyond
As we were running out of time at this point, I still wanted to try and get some information about what to expect in 2025 and if there are any special and exciting plans coming from the World Poker Tour that the player community should be aware of.
“Definitely! The launch of ClubWPT Gold is going to be a big part of what we do in the future. I think that we’re going to be doing a lot of satellites. Of course, we have international stops coming up early in the year, and we’re more scheduling to come out, so I’m excited about that.”
“And just look for us out on the road. I mean, We are the World Poker Tour, and we travel the world, so I’m happy to be a part of that and growing the game all over the world; that’s always been my goal. And I hope that the World Poker Tour is aligned with that, and I know that they are!”
So, it seems that the next year will bring a lot of excitement for all players, with new exciting opportunities and plenty of action all across the globe. And, as a poker fan and a poker player, what more could one possibly ask for?
