by NR INDRAN

Mumbai : WGF – A world gaming festival that is a skill based tournament testing the ability and talent of the participants from around the world will be held at Casino Royale – India’s largest live gaming casino vessel in Goa. It’s for the very first time that a competition of this nature will be held anywhere in the world. WGF post its debut in India will be implemented at various other international destinations.

WGF is a unique tournament which will provide a global lifestyle experience to its participants. Inviting participants from around the world, WGF will screen every entry and accept only those participants that have an aptitude, flair & most importantly the skill set required for such a competition. The entry fee for this tournament is Rs 100,000 /. The structure of WGF is of a knock out format, where all players will start with the same amount of chips. It’s a one time buy and the play concludes with few top players competing for the prize money emphasizing on the skill and strategy one needs to proceed in this game. The games that will be played in this festival are Black Jack, Roulette, Poker, Baccarat & Indian Flush.

The final winner will be awarded the tournament prize money after deducting all applicable state and govt taxes. In addition to this, the organizers will contribute Rs 20 lakhs to a prominent NGO in Goa as a part of their CSR initiative.

WGF is all set to change the way people experience gaming in India. All the participants will be escorted to a royal experience and the finest concierge services. All registered players will be picked up in a chauffer driven luxury car with door to door pick and drop, exclusive return flights, 5 star hotel stay and several other indulgences. World-class entertainment & service will be the hallmark of this festival.

The entire participation process will be documented and monitored from the registration till the end of the festival. Deloitte has been appointed to execute these processes and maintain accounting and transparency. A 360-degree campaign announcing the registration for WGF and its various aspects will be rolled out across all media platforms.

Percept Ltd & Delta Corp Ltd jointly own the Intellectual Property, WGF, and have appointed Mr. Steve Hand as their representative with the single agenda of taking this format global. Cheeky Bulls are the Indian franchise owners and will be implementing WGF in India. High Street Entertainment & Cruises P ltd – which is a fully owned subsidiary of Delta and owns Casino Royale are the title sponsor & venue partners for the event.

Casino Royale will provide an array of various attractions for the participants at the festival  including an international Jazz band, award winning Violinists & Saxophonists, Spanish dance performances, Live Commentators and some of the latest innovative entertainment acts.

The global gaming market is said to be over $120 billion. There are various tournaments with different timelines happening across the globe. Some of the most successful being World Series of Poker, World Poker Tour, World Blackjack Tour & so on. Their structures are completely different and have different number of events happening around the year, but the common element shared by all these events as well as WGF is that they are all purely skill based tournaments. The various other gaming fests that are currently being held in India are Indian Poker Championship, India Poker Series & Indian Poker Ranking Tournament. WGF post its debut in India will be executed in other places in Asia with focus on Macau, casinos in Europe, and finally a grand event happening in Las Vegas.

Mr. Steve Hand quoted “WGF is a one of its kind global initiative undertaken by Delta Corp Ltd. & Percept Ltd. There are various tournaments being held globally, but WGF is truly unique because of the array of games that it offers under a single roof along with world-class entertainment and services. Casino Royale – which is the hallmark of sophistication and grandeur is an ideal venue for a festival of this scale, It will be a once in a life time opportunity for all the participants present and will set a great precedent for the forthcoming editions of the festival”

Mr. Vijender Singh, Olympian Gold Medalist said “It’s an exciting initiative and will help in providing Indians the right platform to try their hands in skill based gaming in such a large scale. Like any other sport, participants here will also need a right mix of talent, concentration & foresight to excel. I definitely would like to participate in the festival with my friends and meet avid gamers from all over the world”.

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