The International Stadiums Poker Tour (ISPT) has gone through several incarnations since it first came to light back in the fall of 2011, and none of these incarnations have been overly appealing until very recently, when the Dusk Till Dawn poker room stepped-in and rescued the ISPT by bringing the ambitious project immediate credibility and reinstating a guarantee for the tournament.
The initial idea for the ISPT was to host a 30,000 player field –with $30,000,000 up for grabs– that would be sitting in Wembley Stadium on tablet computers, followed by a 3,000 player live tournament played on the pitch. Needless to say, this was seen as nothing more than a pipe-dream by most people in the poker community.
The second incarnation was a more scaled-back version, with guarantees rescinded and other structural changes to the event –the equivalent of throwing in the white towel– and was met with apprehension and fear of another Epic Poker League scenario unfolding.
Next the ISPT scrapped the idea of playing the online portion of the tournament at Wembley Stadium altogether and started partnering with online poker rooms. However, this turned the event into something of a laughingstock as Day 1’s were cancelled and turnout looked to be measured in dozens not thousands as the ISPT had hoped.
Finally the ISPT got a break and the popular and well-respected Dusk Till Dawn poker room stepped in and reinstated a guarantee ($1,000,000 to the winner) and according to an official Dusk Till Dawn post on the 2+2 poker forum they will also be handling the entire PR campaign for the tournament.
The initial post by Richard Prew, a Dusk Till Dawn employee who runs the companies Blonde Poker Forums didn’t pull any punches:
“This is a paid for commercial thread. All feedback welcome, and I will do my best to answer all questions and find answers if I cannot do so… I am also aware of the long history of the ISPT event on 2+2. I read the thread over the past 18 months with the same amount of incredulity as many of you. I’m not here to defend what happened pre the involvement of DTD merely to help with the understanding of what is happening since the DTD announcement through to the event itself.”
Dusk Till Dawn is also making a major push on social media, using Twitter and Facebook to get the word out about the tournament, and even getting outlets like Bluff Europe to post regarding the event, including social media freerolls:
• 10 SEAT FACEBOOK FREEROLL- 22ND APRIL “post” this link : http://www.dusktilldawnpoker.com/ispt/ on your Facebook wall AND “like” the web page and you will be eligible to play the Online Facebook Freeroll with 10 x €300 Day 1 seats being given away on Monday 22nd April
• 10 SEAT TWITTER FREEROLL- 29TH APRIL “Tweet” this link http://www.dusktilldawnpoker.com/ispt/ and you will be eligible to play the Online Twitter Freeroll with 10 x €300 Day 1 seats being given away on Monday 29th April
So it now appears that the ISPT –with the aid of Dusk Till Dawn—finally has their act together, and that this tournament could turn out to be a success after all.
