If you’ve ever dreamed of meeting up with Phil Ivey in Las Vegas and sitting down to play some $1/$2 cash then you’ll normally know the end to that dream. It’s a new day, a new dawn and if you’re going to play Phil Ivey in a cash game, you better get building that bankroll. Tomorrow, however, that dream could come true as the World Poker Tour’s Global Ambassador hosts a Meet-Up Game with a difference in Sin City.
The WPT’s historic success with Meet-Up Games, or MUGs, has cultivated a truly special connection between the world’s biggest global poker brand and their players.
A History of Meet-Up Fun
Back in 2022, the World Poker Tour hosted their first-ever 2022 Premier MUG. Meet-Up Games had already not only been a huge success for new ambassadors Brad Owen and Andrew Neeme but it had built their careers and their rise from cash game players to WPT ambassadors was partly built on their ability to connect to with players of all levels.
The World Poker Tour invited some amazing players to be a part of it in 2022 and they weren’t let down, with the late, great Doyle Brunson at the felt. He was joined by the most successful WSOP bracelet winner in poker history, Phil Hellmuth, along with the man many people believe to be the best player ever to pick up hole cards in Phil Ivey.
With an incredible 28 cash games running, players couldn’t get enough and the WPT clearly felt the same in a short time look so smooth. Last year, not one but two MUGs took place. At the first, World Poker Tour Ambassadors Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen were joined by legends of the felt such as Gus Hansen, Phil Ivey and Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau in the “MUG of Dreams” as we joined and observed the action from the rail.
As well as the Premier MUG, the WPT hosted a Ladies MUG too. Our contributor Christina Bradfield attended the festivities and saw a booming night for female poker players feature legends such as Jamie Kerstetter and Angelica Hael at the felt.
Poker legend Doyle Brunson was present at the WPT’s first Meet-Up Game in 2022.
Jingle All-In the Way
The Poker Hall of Famer and WPT Global Ambassador Phil Ivey is the star attraction once again this week as the 2024 WPT Christmas Meet-Up Game takes place tomorrow, Tuesday Dec. 17, as part of the WPT World Championship festival at Wynn Las Vegas. The action kicks off when your morning coffee kicks in, from 9:00am, with the Wynn Poker Room sure to be packed with hundreds of players just like in 2022 and 2023.
The stakes are an affordable $1-$2 and $2-$5 and the action is in No Limit Hold’em, with members of the WPT presenting team such as Lynn Gilmartin, Matt Savage, Tony Dunst, and Vince Van Patten taking part, too.
Some of Ivey’s fellow WPT Global Ambassadors Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau, Jonathan ‘Apestyles’ Van Fleet, Patrick ‘Egption’ Tardiff, Xuan Liu, Jamie Kerstetter, Ashley Sleeth, Jesse Sylvia, Jaman Burton, Frankie Cucchiara, Mariano Grandoli, and Conrad Simpson are all expected to be in attendance.
In 2023, WPT players got to sit down with Danish legend Gus Hansen (photo: Drew Amato/WPT)
The Importance of Cash Games
In an era heavily defined by tournament success, both on the World Poker Tour and in general, Meet-Up Games are crucial. Today, tournament winners hog the headlines rather than the previous era of High Stakes Poker cash game players battling over pots worth millions.
The reemergence of cash games as a big part of major poker festivals is pivotal. Not only does it keep the poker economy booming but it keeps the door open for players of all levels. With a tournament schedule as packed as the WPT World Championships in Vegas this December, there would be no complaints from poker fans if there wasn’t the focus on cash games. But with WPT Global Ambassador Brad Owen one of many WPT players with a deep lying passion for playing cash, that connection the WPT have with recreational players is still of vital importance to everyone involved.
With the recent ClubWPT Gold $5 Million Freeroll making one very lucky player an overnight millionaire, the World Poker Tour have proved once again that they are the poker operator who remain most committed to making poker players dreams come true.
If you’re in Las Vegas tomorrow, December 17, and seats are available on a first come first served basis. Get to Sin City as soon as you can, and you could be sitting to the left of Phil Ivey. What are you waiting for?
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