On the heels of a record-shattering summer, the richest, most prestigious and longest-running poker series – the World Series of Poker (WSOP) – is heading to paradise this winter to kick off a new live tournament poker series, WSOP Paradise. The newly minted series, made possible through a partnership with GGPoker, is set to take place from December 3-14, 2023, at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

The new series builds on the momentum generated by the record-breaking 54th annual WSOP which took place at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip this summer. Featuring 15 bracelet events in total, WSOP Paradise will be headlined by a total of $50 million in guaranteed prize pools, including a $5,000 Main Event with a $15 million total prize pool guarantee, and a $1,500 Mystery Bounty with a $5 million guarantee.

In addition, WSOP Paradise will have unparalleled value for High Rollers: A massive $100k event with $5 million guaranteed, a $50k event with $2 million guaranteed, two Pot Limit Omaha events with seven-figure guarantees, and a signature $25,000 GGMillion$ event with a staggering $10 million total prize pool guarantee.

“The summer was an unprecedented success, but the vision is equally as ambitious for WSOP Paradise,” said Ty Stewart, SVP & Executive Director of the WSOP. “We have the strongest online partner in the world, and they are set to send a record number of qualifiers to a live tournament. Atlantis also has a great legacy in poker, and we believe this combination of partners can deliver poker’s most powerful new franchise for years to come. Many players say summer in Vegas is the best time of year. We hope that will only be rivaled by winter in paradise.”

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GGPoker, who sent 774 players to the Main Event at this summer’s WSOP, has pledged to send at least 1,000 players to WSOP Paradise. Online qualifiers and tournament promotions, including hotel accommodations with special rates for tournament players will be available at ggpoker.com at a later date.

“GGPoker is delighted to launch WSOP Paradise and welcome hundreds of players from all over the world to Atlantis Paradise Island this December,” said Daniel Negreanu, GGPoker Global Ambassador. “It’s going to be an absolutely amazing experience, the best of poker at one of the world’s most luxurious resorts!”

“Atlantis’ 25th anniversary launches a new chapter for the resort, unveiling a multimillion-dollar transformation of the Atlantis Casino complemented by renovated guestrooms at The Royal and Michelin star chef dining experiences in time for the WSOP Paradise event. We are excited to welcome the WSOP Paradise this winter and look forward to hosting the debut of this premiere tournament series for players and their fans,” said Joe Brunini, Chief Gaming & Customer Development Officer Atlantis Paradise Island, the Bahamas.

The full schedule of events will be announced later this year. The WSOP reserves the right to cancel, change or modify the tournament or any tournament event, in part or in whole, without notice.

In Barbados and the government of Prime Minister Mia Mottley soon intends to introduce legislation for the more effective management of the small island nation’s financial and online gambling sectors.

This news was revealed on Friday by the Caribbean country’s Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Ryan Straughn, during the two-day Barbados Risk and Insurance Management Conference. The experienced politician declared that the move will allow the nation to better supervise activities that may well pose ‘significant risks’ to the wider economy following the recent bankruptcy of prominent Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange firm FTX Trading Limited.

Straughn said that the Mottley-led government has had a ‘long withstanding process’ with respect to upgrading its banking and insolvency regimes and hopes to have introduced the new legislation before the end of June in order to put the entire framework ‘on an international standing’.

“In a risk context, we are in the final stages of addressing a couple of key matters,” Straughn told attendees at the Barbados Hilton Resort event. “Equally important and more directly related to risk is a new betting and gaming framework, which we are bringing into play also similarly within that time frame.”

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A former economist, Straughn told those at the gathering that the more effective regulation of iGaming is critical due to a recent rise in the proliferation of online gaming activities that have potentially exposed Barbadians to ‘the similar types of risk that is taking place within the high-frequency trading space’.

“We are going to be bringing a new regime with respect to being able to address the risk associated with those things,” Straughn said. “Why are these things important? Because our citizens are currently engaging in e-commerce-type activities that we are not currently capable of regulating.”

Straughn additionally asserted that his department was already liaising with the local telecommunications industry so as to establish a more effectual monitoring system and will be working closely with an undisclosed entity ‘to build capacity and identify skill sets to provide sophisticated support for regulation’. He detailed that such move would allow Barbados to better secure its economic fortune and learn from the experiences of others around the world.

Barbados became a unitary parliamentary republic in November of 2021 and Straughn stressed that local regulators are to be tasked with remaining vigilant as new and more sophisticated businesses enter the market. He nevertheless finished by acknowledging the ever-present potential for significant loss and major economic damage from activities such as cryptocurrency.

“There will always be a risk…you can never totally eliminate risk,” Straughn said. “As a government, we want to facilitate the improvement of technology and the investment in technology in order for us to do things faster but achieving that efficiency cannot be at the expense of the financial system or the persons who actively participate in that space.”

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