The Aruba Poker Classic starts tomorrow and runs for almost an entire week, ending on October 4th with an awards ceremony and banquet. The event will take place at the Radisson Aruba Resort and Casino, and the buy-in is $5,000+$500. The prize pool is an estimated $4 million and the person finishing on top is guaranteed $1 million. If 800 or more players turn out, the first prize will be $1,200,000.
Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke are both already registered for the tournament. Hellmuth might not make it though – he’s currently in London playing in the WSOPE Main Event. There should be several other high profile players in Aruba, though.
Day 1a is tomorrow at 12 pm, Day 1b is on Tuesday and the final table will take place on October 4th. Players start with 10,000 chips at 25/50 blinds and blind levels will be 90 minutes until the final table, at which point they will decrease to 60 minutes. Once the tournament gets down to 36 players, the tournament will become 6-handed. The tournament director for this event is Matt Savage.
The 2007 version of the Aruba Poker Classic had a $2.74 million prize pool and was won by Travis “TravestyFund” Rice. Rice, a Texas native, beat 548 people and took home $800,000 for his efforts.