Following a local news outlet's piece on the legality of a two-week-long, WPT-affiliated poker series in Hanoi, Vietnam - and a rapid investigation by Hanoi City officials that not all needed approvals had been obtained - the Crown Poker Club has abruptly canceled 'WPT Vietnam 2024 - Passport to the World Championship'. The series was expected to draw players from throughout southeast Asia.
The May 12 feature published on Hanoi's Dua Tin news outlet questioned the legality of the series, while also noting that Crown Poker Club had been promoting the event on its Facebook page. That report accompanied a review of the situation by government officials, who determined that Crown Poker Club had not garnered all of the needed approvals to run the series.
The World Poker Tour was unaware of the licensing situation, according to Inside Asian Gaming's Ben Blaschke. IAG broke an English-language version of the story on Tuesday, the same day the series was to begin. The WPT has not issued a statement regarding the cancelled Vietnam series, but it has removed the festival from its listings of WPT-affiliated special events.
The two-week series was to be held at the Crown Poker Club and was scheduled to offer 63 events. More than USD $2 million in prizes had been guaranteed, including 10 'Passport' seat entries into this December's WPT World Championship main event.
Crown Poker Club posts apology for cancelation
Citing 'technical issues', Crown Poker Club notified players of the last-minute cancellation via the same Facebook page the Hanoi news outlet referenced in raising the issue to authorities. The club's message read as follows:
EMERGENCY NOTICE
For technical reasons and with the best intentions for all players, Crown Poker Club would like to announce the cancellation of the WPT Vietnam 2024 - Passport to the World Championship scheduled to take place at Crown Poker Club from May 14, 2024. 2024 to May 27, 2024
Crown Poker Club regrets this inconvenience. This is truly a difficult decision because, throughout its operation, Crown Poker Club has always prioritized safety and improving tournament quality first.
Therefore, Crown Poker Club hopes for the sharing and sympathy of our partners, customers, and all players. Regarding refunds for Early Birds tickets, players please contact customer service for a refund.
Further details will be announced by Crown Poker Club as soon as possible.
Sincerely thank you!
Crown Poker Club
Some players had already commited to traveling to the festival's early events and appear to be on the hook for travel expenses. Here's one such tale:
Latest in string of difficulties for Vietnamese poker tournaments
The cancellation of the WPT-affiliated isn't the first difficult situation involving the Crown Poker Club that has emerged in recent months.
In March, Vietnam's U Series of Poker (USOP), offering a festival in Danang in partnership with Crown Poker Club, faced large-scale protests from players over extra 'winner's fees' being deducted from tournament payouts. The players cited Vietnamese laws appearing to show that such deductions were unlawful, and series organizers promised to reverse course and change fee structures in future events.
As the IAG report noted, this week's WPT Passport series cancellation marks the third time in six months a major Vietnamese poker festival has been shut down in unexpected ways. Last December, the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Hanoi Billions festival wrapped two days earlier than planned. That forced closure came after Hanoi's City Police affirmed public complaints that the city's National Convention Center, where the stop was ongoing, could not be used for any sort of gambling-themed event, and the approvals had been granted in error.
And last month, the planned Asian Poker Festival Spring Series in Hanoi also fell apart amid a broken partnership between APF organizers and Hanoi's Royal Poker Club, where the series was to take place. Club officials posted that they looked into running the series on their own, but the existing license approvals specifically included both corporate partners as event organizers, and were thus no longer valid.
Featured image source: Facebook / Crown Poker Club
