Winter is coming. And that means big decisions for poker players around the world. Bracelets in The Bahamas? WPT’s World Championship in Vegas? Or snow with the EPT in Prague? In this daily series, we’ll find out what the players are up to and, more importantly, why.
David Coleman is in a three-way battle for the 2024 GPI Player of the Year. He’s currently second, 54 points behind leader Jesse Lonis, after a standout year that saw him win two tournaments in the first two weeks of January, both for six-figure scores. He won four PGT titles, the $25K at Wynn in the summer for $730,300, and finished fifth in the EPT Barcelona Main Event. He’s cashed in 42 events across the year so far.
Where are you going in December?
I only have three more stops this year. I’ll go to Florida [WPT Seminole Hard Rock] right after Thanksgiving. I'll play the regular schedule there: the Main Event, the $25K, the $10K, and the $5K – they’re all good events. Then I go to The Bahamas for a week just to play the beginning of the series. Truth be told, I wanted to be in The Bahamas for the entire Paradise series, but when I won the $25K at the Wynn in July, they gave out WPT World Championship seats for the top six people, so I won a free seat.
Because of that, I feel I'm kind of obligated to play it. As much as I love the World Championship, I think the Bahamas Super Main Event will be slightly better, and I anticipate some overlay. But I have a wedding to attend in the middle of everything from December 12-15 in Mexico.
Here’s my plan: Florida first, then go to the Bahamas for a week, the wedding in Mexico, and then to Wynn to play the World Championship and the rest of the series.
Aside from the wedding, what dictated your schedule?
I love Florida, especially this time of year to escape the cold. Vegas has been way colder than it was this time last year. I'm looking forward to hitting the beach.
The bottom line is there is a lot of good stuff on the schedule and a lot of poker in the next six weeks. I’m looking forward to it a lot. And I’m only a few points behind Jesse Lonis for GPI POY. It should be a fun end to an amazing year.
What do you make of the $5M WPT freeroll event?
I’m kind of sad I can't play that event. It's right in the middle of that wedding I have to go to. But it sounds amazing. People who have never played in big tournaments will play for six or seven figures. I was a little shocked when I saw how big that prize pool is. It's awesome. So yeah, that’s definitely a good event for everyone.
Where did you play in December last year?
I was stuck at the Wynn the whole time at the WPT. I had just moved to Vegas a few months before. I kind of just wanted to hang out and chill.
I didn't hear any amazing things about the Bahamas. In that respect, I felt like I made the right decision. But this year, I think it'll be much, much better. Wynn was excellent last year. They always do a great job. I really like playing over there.
Is this three-way competition (WSOP v WPT v EPT) good for players? And do you think it will end badly for one or more of the tours?
It seems crazy to me, but what do I know? I anticipate one of them will change moving forward. I don't know which. It doesn’t seem correct to me to have WSOP, EPT, and WPT simultaneously. I don't understand why.
Why not move one of them to November or whatever? There’s not too much going on right now in November. People are in charge of those platforms and must have their reasons. But it doesn't seem like the play to me.
Do you think the purchase of the WSOP by GGPoker will be a good thing for the players and the industry?
I think so. I don't feel that WSOP was run amazingly. I think that GG does a lot of good things. So yeah, I think it will be good. I'm sure GG will help poker break out more into the US market, but we'll see.
I don't know all the answers. But I like the fact that I can deposit crypto for the WSOP events in The Bahamas. I like that a lot. I hope that next summer you can buy in with crypto at the WSOP series. I'm surprised they hadn't initiated payment with crypto already. Let’s see how it all plays out.
- The WPT World Championship festival runs Dec 3-23 at Wynn Las Vegas
- WSOP Paradise runs from December 6-19 with 15 bracelets up for grabs in The Bahamas
- EPT Prague runs December 4-15 at the Hilton Hotel, Prague
