NHN said on the 23rd that its Texas Hold'em-style mobile poker game Hangame Royal Hold'em will host the second Hangame Poker Tour (HPT).
HPT is a hold'em tournament that links online satellite tournaments with offline tournaments, hosted by Bithumb and operated by SOOP. The total prize pool is the equivalent of 1 billion won in Bitcoin (BTC). At the inaugural event held in Nov., the offline on-site entries reached 2,166, marking strong results.
The online qualifiers, the satellite tournaments, will run for 60 days from Dec. 22 to Feb. 19. They will be held three times a day at 6:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m., and 10:30 p.m. in Hangame Royal Hold'em. Users can participate without a separate application, and each tournament will award 20 tickets to the offline main event. The total number of tickets is 3,600.
The offline tournament will be held for four days from Feb. 20 to 23. From Feb. 20 to 22, Day 1 and Day 2 of the "Main Event" will take place at the Swiss Grand Hotel Convention Center in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. On Day 1, participants can enter with one ticket and may re-enter under the same format. Users who pass Day 1 advance to Day 2.
On Day 2, the third day, the remaining players will compete in earnest for BTC worth a total of 1 billion won. The final nine will take the stage for the championship at the Sangam SOOP Colosseum in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on Feb. 23, battling for the winner's trophy.
NHN will also bolster broadcast content for viewers during this tournament. There will be six broadcasts during the satellite period, featuring professional commentators. The final match at the Sangam SOOP Colosseum will also feature production tailored to the final stage.
Choi Young-du, head of NHN's Mobile Web Board Business Group, said, "HPT is an offline-linked tournament newly branded alongside the renewal of 'Hangame Royal Hold'em,' and we look forward to many challenges from users who want to prove their skills in the second event."