Two card rooms on opposite ends of the South Florida map are taking opposite approaches to giving away seats at the World Series of Poker main event.

The Palm Beach Kennel Club conducts tournaments that involve just the commitment of an entry fee; Gulfstream Park Casino & Racing will reward three seats from a pool of its 50 most loyal players.

The first of the World Series of Poker’s 57 events begins May 27. The main event is July 3. So card rooms across the country hook up with the WSOP to offer seats in the tournament, although anyone can buy their way in to the main event for $10,000.

The Palm Beach Kennel Club is having tournaments at 1 p.m. Saturdays. For every 66 players who pay the $200 entry fee, the card room awards a seat and $1,000 spending money. So far, it has enough interest to conduct a tournament every Saturday in April and this month.

“What poker player doesn’t dream about going to the World Series?” poker room manager Noah Carbone said.

The card room also has a $30 satellite tournament at 6:30 p.m. Thursdays. For every 10 players who sign up, one gets a spot in the Saturday tournament for the seat.

Meanwhile, Gulfstream is in its third round of keeping a tournament points leader board and offering a prize at the end. The first promotion was in December, when the casino gave away a Mercedes-Benz; the second ended in April with a Rolex watch.

Players accumulate points for finishing well in the casino’s daily 6:30 p.m. multi-table tournaments, or in one-table tournaments, which take place whenever there’s enough interest.

The top 50 top play off for the three World Series seats. Also, first place on the leaderboard gets an automatic $2,500, second $1,500, third $1,000 and fourth and fifth $500.

“This format has increased our tournament play here, as well as increased our player loyalty,” Gulfstream poker room manager Scott Poole said.

The list of players winning points is at 550 — up 200 from the end of the Rolex tournament.
Gulfstream’s battle for the WSOP seats is June 7.

Gulfstream has a $150 tournament on Saturday, a $60 on Sunday and Monday, an $80 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and a $100 on Wednesday and Friday. The top 10 finishers get points. Sit-n-goes are $120 and $60, and the top three get points.